Order Among Chaos
by Faykan
Summary: The sun has set upon the Republic, and the Neo-Sith Empire reigns supreme. Only a scattered remnant of rebels and traitors remain, struggling to sting the Empire like biting flies. But beneath the overwhelming triumph, something festers within. Third in the Darth Veneficus Trilogy.
1. Prologue: An Empire Disquiet

**And here we begin once again. The final instalment of the Veneficus Trilogy! I decided, upon further review, that the title for this third book was just as accurate as I originally found it to be, and therefore chose to keep it. So, please, buckle up and enjoy the ride as we dive right into the tale of the Galaxy, ruled by Lord Veneficus of the Sith! Enjoy... ~F**

 **Order Among Chaos**

 **Prologue**

 **An Empire Disquiet**

840 BBY

The sun bore down upon the jungle world of Dromund Kaas, capital system of the Neo-Sith Empire, and home of the Palace of the Eternal Throne, seat of Veneficus, Emperor of the Galaxy. All had unified behind his banner in the two decades after his glorious victory over the stagnant Republic, and the Galaxy had prospered in those years. But all throughout the empire, even here on the capital world of his power, there were those desperate for their own way, and rebellion stirred in various corners of the Galaxy.

And, as any law abiding government was duty-bound to do, such seeds of rebellion and corruption were stamped out as swiftly as they raised their ugly heads.

Euka Qudru sprinted after the fugitives that had caused the most recent act of terrorism and rebellion in the beloved city of the Emperor, a pair of ruffians that had defaced a statue of their glorious leader, thinking that they could also destroy the monument when challenged by those loyal to his Imperial Majesty. When confronted however, by an advanced detachment of the Dromund Kaas guard, they fled, which is when backup was called in to pursue them.

As to why she, an Apprentice to one of the leading members of the Dark Council, Zhar Quelmok, was leading this inquisition after these fugitives, was that there was heavy suspicion that they held information about other rebellious rings of fugitives across the Core Sith Worlds, and was leaking information back to the underground movement that was spreading throughout the Empire as a whole.

Dodging around another wild shot, which the perpetrators were occasionally shooting at their pursuers, the powerful heir of the seat of Korriban then leapt high into the air, the crimson blades of her weapon illuminating her way as she soared toward her prey.

She was on assignment from the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side himself, who had requested the talented Iradonian to lead this search, which pleased Euka and her Master greatly. She held a small, bitter rivalry with her fellow apprentices surrounding the Dark Council, and out of those special twelve, she was considered in the running for the most prominent and power of them.

It was suspected that several of the others had attempted to have Euka assassinated at various times, but the Iradonian never admitted to the possibilities that her rivals had ever had such an advantage over her. The other rumors were more to her favor, stating that it was seemed likely that the Supreme Prophet would choose her over his own apprentice to take his place as leader of the Dark Council when the time came for him to step down, or ascend to the rank of an inner advisor to the Emperor himself.

Such rumors were nonsense, of course, as the functionality of the Empire's hierarchy was absolute, and unless the Supreme Prophet chose her to learn under him, Euka would have to be satisfied with her place as the future leader of the second greatest world in the Empire, the tomb-world of Korriban.

Still, the look on Apprentice Ekitc Batoi's face when the Mirialan learned that his rival, and the more favored of his own master, Supreme Prophet Feyd, had been chosen over him was more than worth all the running and work that she now had to endure.

It was all the more difficult for the twenty or so other soldiers and Dark Adepts that followed her through the winding streets of New Kaas City, weaving through the underbelly of their beloved city after the fugitives without the aid of an overwhelmingly strong connection to the Dark Side to propel them onward.

Even still, the head start that those they chased had was enough that they eventually slipped out of Euka's sight, and once she reached the large clearing in the streets that she last spotted them, they were nowhere to be found.

"Spread out, comb every building, and bring them to me," she commanded, sensing that they were not far, likely trying to hide from them rather than continue to run. It was most likely that they were quite exhausted, as Euka had given the pair quite the chase through the windy and narrow alleyways of the underbelly of the city, and they had be given no time to rest their legs or anything for hours.

Her forces spread out, going from building to build and bashing the doors open, uncaring and unapologetic to the inhabitants as they conducted their search. Euka waited in the center of the square, her slightly damp robes still possessing their sheen of the velvety black of a Dark Council Apprentice, which seemed to slap the civilians with the appropriate aura of silence and respect for the inquisitor that had come to search their homes.

Soon enough, there was a commotion from one of the buildings, and the sound of blaster fire before the troopers were dragging out the entire family from within their home, as well as the two fugitives. Clearly one of the pair was related to the family, as they shared many characteristics, and Euka was momentarily baffled at the sheer stupidity that the young fugitive thought that running home would protect him from the justice of the Empire.

They were forced to kneel in front of her, all in a line, while the troopers form up behind them, weapons drawn and safeties removed.

Euka stood before them, surrounded by the four other Dark Adepts that she had handpicked for this mission, for their skills in tracking and their endurance for the long hunt. "Now," she said slowly, allowing the fear to wash over the two she sought to interrogate for all to see, "You will tell me what you felt, in your stupidity, defiling a monument of our beloved Emperor would accomplish…"

The pair said nothing, looking terrified and ashamed that they were caught, and after a moment's pause Euka tutted at the silence, "such a pity… No answer? You just felt like it perhaps, thought it would be a good laugh, make fun of our glorious leader, who has given the Empire all his devotion and guiding care, and this is the thanks he receives?"

Activating one blade of her weapon, Euka started toward one of the far figures, an elderly woman that had clear familiar resemblance to the smaller of the two fugitives, "Please no!" he screamed, and Euka paused for a moment, gleaming red eyes focused on the young man, waiting for his answer.

"We were paid to do it; we had no choice, my Lady…" he said slowly, looking down at the ground beneath his feet. "Please, spare my family…"

"If you were paid to do such a thing, you clearly had a choice," Euka replied, calling him on the lie, and letting her saber fall. The old woman fell to the dust amid the screams of her family.

"We were starving!" the young one belted out, "we would die if we didn't have the money to pay for food!"

Euka moved to the next figure, clearly the husband of the woman she just killed. The old man stared directly at her with eyes of hatred and defiance, and Euka knew exactly what she had found. A melting pot of disquiet and ingratitude for all that they had. "There is always plenty of work for the citizens of the Empire; you could have taken any number of jobs both on and off world." She stated, cutting down the man with equal impunity.

Changing the vein of her questioning, she continued, stepping toward the next figure, a younger man who was probably the father of the young speaker, whose friend or companion had thus far remained stoically silent. "Where is the den of your little insurrection?"

The young man visibly buckled, looking down in horror, and Euka knew the truth. They just used this poor family for their own ends, and like the rats they were abandoned him to be captured, along with their likely observer and enforcer.

Turning toward the silent figure, who still stared blandly ahead with a look of neutrality, as though he was somewhere far different, Euka smirked as she sent probes of the Force toward his mind. "Where are they?" she asked, hoping that the blunt question would force the location to the surface of the man's mind. This one had some training in mental resilience however, and did not react.

"Take him back to the Palace, we shall make his talk," she stated, turning for a moment to the other Dark Adepts, and that was when the man struck. Leaping to his feet, a pair of blasters appeared in his hands, unleashing their barrage at the surrounding troopers. "For the Rebellion!" the man shouted as he took off running, quickly followed by several of the Dark Adepts.

A clear and desperate act to save those left behind, but Euka did not move to follow as of yet. Gesturing at the remaining troopers, she watched as the duped family was gunned down, man woman and child, and their home set ablaze before turning to continue her pursuit of the man that would tell her everything she wanted to know about the cells that dared to operate within the system of the Emperor's crown jewel.

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"It seems our efforts to once again stir up an uprising among the poor and lower classes of Dromund Kaas have failed yet again," The operative only known as Shade said through the holoprojector to the crew of the _Pursuit of Justice_. "Our final spy within their populace has been executed, and his protector is being chased through the streets by an Inquisitorial force as we speak."

"That is unfortunate," High Commander Filius Flitwick responded, looking squarely at the masked figure that had taken it upon themselves to contact the Rebellion, formed out of the fleeing Republic forces and what allies they could rally to their cause to throw off the oppression of the Sith Empire. "Do what you must, Operative, but do not allow yourself to be captured, you are too valuable to our cause to be lost so soon."

"I'll do what I can, but I could do more if I could rendezvous with you and organize your spy network myself…" the unknown ally added, to which the old Charms Master and Duelist narrowed his eyes.

"Watch yourself Operative," he said carefully, "many times have the Sith tried to infiltrate our ranks, and our being a bit too obvious to wanting to know all of our secrets at once, give us time to trust you, and perhaps you will be summoned to out secret base."

"Understood, my apologies Commander," Shade said, subdued in voice.

"For the time being, we think that Dromund Kaas is a lost cause, and so we want you to pull your forces out of the system." Flitwick added, "Flee back toward the Core, and find a more remote world that will easily take you like, I suggest somewhere like Alderaan. They have had a long love for the Republic back in the old days and would welcome a chance to help however they can, but do not expect to find an army."

"Planetary armies are a hard thing to come by these days…" Shade replied sarcastically, and was nodding, "I will do as you ask, and reset our effort to drum up more support services for future endeavors. Shade out."

The holoprojection ended, and Filius sighed. Dealing with the unknown figure was always a taxing job, because he wasn't sure if he could completely trust the operative with their secrets, like the fact that he and his crew were already en route to Malastare, home world of the Dug race, to see if they could procure more fuel for their tiny fleets.

Despite Ms. Granger's wonderful advantages over the harsh climate of Hoth and their ability to form a perfectly concealed base there in, some raw materials were needed if they wanted to rebuild the armies and ships that they had enjoyed during the days of the war, and supply was extremely limited.

It was as though the Emperor knew that they were trying to form this Rebellion, and had intentionally crushed every possible manufacturer or raw material dealer in the Galaxy to make sure that they lacked what they needed to oppose him.

Nevertheless, they would press on, with the hope that one day, either they or those who came after would see the fall of Emperor Veneficus and the restoration of peace and true justice in the Galaxy. Naturally, the secret fact that Veneficus was in fact a Mage-born from earth, and that many of the top rebellion leaders had known or taught him in his youth was never spoken about, even when they were alone, for fear that if the knowledge slipped out, that the madman would take it as a personal affront and seek them out even more directly than he was already.

As it was, between the constant patrols of the massive fleets of ships, more than easily were used in the invasion of the Republic from two decade prior, spread throughout the Galaxy, fill to the brim with weapons and designs that were complete new and foreign to the fledgling Rebellion, but the threat of discovery from the Emperor's forces of Dark Adept Inquisitors, who were always on the lookout for members of their organization, trying valiantly to find their hidden base.

Luckily, that was at least one advantage that they had over the Imperials, was the number of Mage-born that the Rebellion had in their ranks. Filius himself had charmed the entire base, located on the icy planet of Hoth, with a Fidelius, concealing it from discovery except by those he himself had told, or who were given the location via the prerecorded message that he had left with the leader of their base, Director Hermione Granger, who oversaw everything that happened upon the planet, including the defense of their Jedi allies.

The survival of the Jedi Order was another deeply kept secret, and despite many of those warriors and monks requesting to come on missions to aid the Rebellion, both Filius and Ms. Granger had vehemently denied them, knowing that if the Empire caught the scent of the Jedi once more in the Galaxy, there would be no rest until they stamped them out, and all who aided them.

Not that that halted their efforts to give everything that the Jedi might need to rebuild their numbers. With the strong leadership of Jedi Lord Berethon, crippled in a duel with the Emperor himself, as well as Jedi Master Yoda, they had erected a self sustaining enclave within Sanctuary Base, training the hundreds of young Jedi that had fled from the destruction of the Coruscant Temple and the defeat of the Republic.

Now those Jedi, valiant and strong were reaching out with the Force, calling to anyone who felt the burning flame of freedom from the tyranny of the Empire, inspiring acts of courage and drawing those who would agree to fight to seek out the rebellion. But in actuality they were seeking for other Jedi, ones that escaped the wrath of the Sith and were hidden away throughout the Galaxy, but in either case their hopes were slim.

They had come across many new recruits this was however, and even many Force Sensitives had flocked to their cause, coming to Hoth and training in the ways of the Jedi, adding their support to the new and resurgent order that waiting for the moment to come bursting back into the Galactic view to challenge the Emperor and his minions.

Both Mage-born commanders knew that it was only a matter of time that they'd have no choice but to allow them to join in the cause for freedom, and send them out on missions to aid the Rebellion, but they truly feared what the consequences of such an action would have on their cause.

"Were approaching Malastare Commander," said the officer in charge of the _Pursuit of Justice_ , tossing his red hair to the side to stop it obscuring his face.

"Thank you, Admiral Weasley," Filius replied, smiling at his former student, and powerful strategist. The young man had had a lot of growing throughout the war with the Empire, and despite some wound he had received from going in over his head from time to time, the now full grown man had developed a lot of rational thinking and wisdom, rising to be the chief of all their admirals and tacticians, as well as a remarkable magical duelist with tutoring from Filius himself.

Currently they were en route the a diplomatic meeting on the planet below to negotiate a deal for a cut of their fuel production, which would allow the Rebellion ships to operate for a long time yet, until they could come up with the funds to get it through other means.

They had operatives on the planet already, who had negotiated such a plea, but those in charge had demanded to speak to someone with higher authority before they would agree to such a deal, and Filius wasn't about to allow Director Granger to go anywhere she didn't need to. She was very high on the Empire's most wanted list, and while Filius was not far behind, it was enough that he could defend himself far more effectively than she, with her mostly trusting nature, would be aware of.

"Leave the ship in orbit, and calculate a new Hyperspace jump every ten minutes, if Imperial ships appear, leave us and go, before swinging back to Sanctuary and informing the others of the failure," Filius said as his hover seat turned toward the view screen of the planet below.

Weasley scoffed, but said nothing, obeying his orders without question even if he didn't feel them needed. The red haired tactician hadn't even wanted to leave Filius on any planet, but they were the standing orders if a force they couldn't yet contend with arrived.

"Let's get planet side," Filius said, hovering toward the hangar bay, and the small shuttles that would take them down to speak with their inside trader.

"May the Force be with you, Commander," Weasley stated, and Filius nodded.

"And may Merlin watch over us all, Admiral." He replied, knowing that while the Force was the accepted religion of the Galaxy, those among the Mage-born that had been on earth so long ago would never forget the old ways, and the traditions that once had such value to them.

Taking several troopers and a few droids just in case translation was an issue, Filius departed down to the planet in his personal shuttle, even while Weasley took command of the bridge. The half-goblin Professor had no qualms about his highly dependable first officer, and knew that if the worst was to happen, he would obey his orders and get the ship and her crew to safety.

After that however, he feared that the still very brash man would rally all the volunteers he could and lead a strike to recover Filius himself, as well as inflict whatever damage on the Empire he could in the process. It was a small mercy that the man hadn't taken to piloting star fighters when he was sent to the Republic academy, as that would have birthed a totally different and altogether more dangerous version of the upstanding officer than they had now.

Setting down toward a large outcropping of forest, well away from the primary settlements just as their contact, the Gran Loneer Gree, had requested, Filius set his forces to securing the area and setting up a wide perimeter, just in case of ambush or treachery. Many had sought the Rebellion only for the profit of turning them in to the Empire, and his caution was what kept them alive and able to fight often, so he refused to lower their guard for any reason.

The three eyed alien was there waiting for them, watching in fascination as the Rebel Troopers fanned out, checking every nook and cranny for anything out of place but saying nothing, as the Gran was probably as paranoid and cautious as they had to be.

"I apologize for our need to be absolutely sure we are unobserved, but you have to understand our predicament," Filius said in explanation, but the Gran was already nodding his agreement.

"No, no, I understand perfectly, and to be honest I am more comfortable with your people here keeping watch than the last few hours I was here alone, it's a lot more welcoming with other presence here to help me feel safe doing this."

"Shall we get started then?" Filius said, hoping that they could iron out this contract and get it filed into the books for Malastare before the Empire caught wind of what they were up to and investigated.

"Yes, I think that would be for the best," the Gran said, taking out several data pads and passing one to Filius quickly, trying to control the trembling of his hands as he did so. The Goblin Dueling Champion caught the sign that the Gran was still uneasy, and hoped that it had only to do with poor figures of what he was about to read, and nothing more, but it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

"Make sure the shuttle does not turn off its engines, just in case we need to evacuate in a moment's notice," he said to the troopers, who acknowledged his command, before Filius turned to the Data pad, carefully reading some of the figures and charts stating what Loneer would be able to siphon out of the excess of his company's profits and smuggle to them. It was far lower than what Filius had been expecting, but it also was with no strings attached, which was a great bonus. "We cannot afford to demand for more at this time," he said, looking up at the Gran, "and we thank you for whatever you can spare for out fight, if more is possible, we would be most appreciative." He said, starting to hand back the pad.

"You m-might want to read further," Loneer said, stuttering, which put Filius on high alert. Quickly he turned back to the datapad, and read on, finding the hidden message within the pad. ' _You need to leave swiftly, there is a trap waiting for you_.'

"I understand, and thank you my friend. Be safe, and long live the Rebellion." Filius stated.

"I will have the fuel on the abandoned asteroid belt like we agreed previously, when the time is right, and I will send a coded message to you when it is ready," Loneer said, taking back the pad and turning to leave, "Go quickly, they will be coming as soon as they figure you are planet side. May the Force be with you."

Filius gave their ally a few minutes to get away, before demanding his troops back to the shuttle. "Someone tipped off the Empire, and they're on their way," he explained.

"Sir, unknown figures approaching from the direction of the city," one of the troopers said, and Filius resisted swearing, "They're already here, move!"

Troopers scrambled to get back to the shuttle, and Filius waited at the loading ramp for the last of them to enter before he would board.

Even as the ship started to take off, with Filius at the edge of the ramp, the Sith forces started to pour in. several deft spells took out their forward scouts, knocking them to the ground, and even killing a few. Times had changed from when he had been a teacher, and war made fickle the choices of morals for spell selection. To kill meant that others would survive, and so Filius had allowed darker spells into his repertoire, even if he personally disagreed with them and their effect.

It was no surprise that, as they broke free of their cover and took off back to orbit, a trio of fighters launched in pursuit, firing upon their shields. "Get a message to Admiral Weasley that were coming in hot and to wait for us before launching into Hyperspace." Filius commanded, even as he started to chant a powerful shield charm, layering it around their shuttle to add even more protection from the cannons of the Sith fighters.

Breaking through the atmosphere, Filius was not at all surprised to see the _Dread Seeker_ waiting for them in orbit, already attacking their ship and trying to cut them off from escape. Long had they been hounded by the newly titled High Inquisitor Gor-lak the Cruel, and his terrible forces which had chased them throughout the Galaxy.

Filius had yet to cross spells with the supposed crazed magic user, but that was not a moment he anticipated, as he had more important work to do than try to fight one powerful commander in the Imperial ranks.

Once they escaped into the hangar of the _Pursuit of Justice_ , he commanded that they launch for Hyperspace, and felt the rumble as Admiral Weasley obeyed, and the stars outside blurred to lines, signaling that they had escaped yet again from the Inquisitor, and hopefully their allies on the planet had made their way out of harm's way as well. The fuel was vastly important to their fight, but not at the cost of losing their support on the various planets throughout the Galaxy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feyd, current Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, and leader of the Dark Council that ran the whole of Dark Veneficus' empire under the direction of the Eternal Emperor, smirked as he received the transmission from the apprentice of Zhar Quelmok, stating that they had captured a rebel recruiter, and were bringing the man back to the Imperial Palace for questioning.

"Excellent, I am pleased that my faith in your skills were not misplaced," the Supreme Prophet said, catching out of the corner of his eye movement, likely his own apprentice, who had only recently failed to produce results like unto what apprentice Qudru had in a few short weeks on the capital world.

"We shall return shortly, my Lord, and you will have your answers at last." The Iridonian replied, shutting the connection afterward, only then bothering to look around at his own apprentice.

"Apprentice Qudru has already apprehended one of these rebels, and will bring them to us for questioning soon." He announced, noting with sadistic pleasure the small tic in the Mirialan's face.

"Yes," Ekitc replied, cooling his emotions with difficulty, "I heard as much, my Master."

"I hope that this teaches you a lesson in efficiency, my apprentice," Feyd continued, laying on as much pressure as he dared at this particular moment and about this topic. His apprentice was an angry ex-Jedi, and was prone to the vilest of tempers at the best of times, which was also his greatest flaw, something that the Supreme Prophet had spent much of the past two decades quelling and tempering the younger Force Adept into a precision tool of the Dark Side.

There had been a great deal of progress, but there was still quite a ways to go, hence why Feyd had specifically removed his apprentice from the forefront of the war with the fallen Republic, as he could sense that the ex-Jedi had great potential, but was not nearly ready to face off against his old allies without losing control and wasting all that was himself in a battle he could not win.

"What is thy bidding, then, my Master?" the Mirialan asked, seeking to know why he had been previous summoned by the Supreme Prophet, and inclining his head respectfully in the face of the rebukes that Feyd had previous laid upon him.

"You are to come and learn as I extract the information that we desire from this rebel scum, and then you will lead the extermination effort on whatever crevasse that they've hidden themselves in when they realized we had caught up to them." Feyd explained, watching the pride and sneering smirk return to his apprentice's face. The former Jedi hopeful would have been far better off currently among the Marauders led by Lord Fury, but the Supreme Prophet hoped that his tutelage would instill in the younger Dark Adept a sense of decorum and patience for the work that they were about, sustaining and establishing a dynasty for their Emperor to rule for all time, while the Dark Side of the Force reigned supreme in the Galaxy for the first time in millennia.

"As you wish, my Master," the Mirialan replied, eagerly following as Feyd led the way into the sublevels of the Imperial Palace, where the rooms for their most 'esteemed' guests awaited their arrival.

Even as they approached the receiving room, Feyd could sense that Apprentice Qudru had already arrived with her charge, and from the tensing of his apprentice, the young male had sensed it as well.

The smirk that greeting them from the Iridonian sent dangerous shivers down the spine of the Supreme Prophet, not for the threat that the smile sent toward them, but the possibility of the cleanup that would be required if the two powerful apprentices finally came to the blows that they threatened every time they were in the same room together.

Zhar's apprentice gestured to the unconscious man on the ground before her, "You prisoner, my Lord," she stated flatly, as though it had been a simple task unworthy of her efforts. Mentally, the Supreme Prophet applauded her efforts to further infuriate his own apprentice, as the young man needed to understand that his position afforded him nothing in the eyes of those superior to him, such as the Emperor, if he was to ever ascend to the rank of Supreme Prophet himself.

Feyd had been lucky, and his own master had perished by other hands, rather than in a traditional Dark Side duel, as was tradition for those who followed in the footsteps of the Sith Lords, but such an advantage was not what Feyd desired for his own apprentice. The boon of power in taking the life of your predecessor was unrivaled by any other permanent affix to the strength of a Darksider, outside the use of powerful artifacts that were only afforded to the Emperor himself, and occasionally Darth Diábolis, the heir apparent of the whole Empire.

"Thank you, Apprentice Qudru," Feyd stated, gesturing for Ekitc to take custody of the body, "you are dismissed back to your master, with my gratitude, we shall take command of the investigation from this point on."

The female Iridonian bowed respectfully, giving the pair the room as she started for the Imperial hangar, and presumably her ship to depart as swiftly as possible. Not many desired to remain on the capitol for longer than needed, as the presence of the Emperor was, to the unfamiliar, quite imposing and somewhat intoxicating for the weak minded.

"And now, we find the truth," Feyd stated, watching as his apprentice strapped the man to a frame, which would keep him in an upright position and limit the amount of thrashing that the man would be able to do while the process of their interrogation commenced.

Using the Force, the Supreme Prophet reached into the man's mind, snapping him awake with a sudden jolt of pain and fear pulled from his memories. The man looked wildly around, unsure of his surroundings as his eyes cleared, until they focused on the dark robes of both Feyd and his apprentice.

Upon seeing who he was in the company of, the man's entire demeanor changed, stiffening bodily and narrowing his eyes defiantly at the pair of Dark Adepts. "Oh, I wouldn't bother trying to tell us you won't talk," Feyd stated simply, even as the man opened his mouth at them, "you will spill all the secrets you know about you rebel friends before you die, I can guarantee it…"

The man scowled, but the Supreme Prophet was already using what techniques that the Emperor had personally taught him, reaching into the man's psyche and pulling forth those things he feared the most, playing the horrid visions before the rebel's eyes. Idly he wondered if it was some grotesque monster devouring his family that he saw, or the Sith discovering his loved ones and friends.

Whatever it turned out to be, the man was resilient for a time, before the small nervous tics began behind his eyes. Feyd stopped, making sure that his apprentice was watching and reaching out with the Force to discover the secrets behind these techniques, even as Feyd drove deeply into the man's mind, straining to discover the answers as painfully as possible, inflicting pain throughout the nerve endings of the man as he went. "Where is your rebel base on Dromund Kaas, tell me now and the pain will stop."

The man was not too proud to not scream, which was good for him in the long run, as Feyd had seen what happened to those who tried to clamp their mouths shut, eventually the jaw would snap apart from the strain, severing the tongue or breaking teeth, and often the victim would simply bleed to death before answers were given, which led to awkward conversations with the Emperor, who had the means to transcend death and retrieve the information they sought from someone recently dead, however Feyd preferred to now show that weakness to his Lord any further if he could help it, and would rather that the man told them what they wanted while he yet lived.

Nevertheless, this man had strong willpower, and while he screamed at the mental torture, even to the point of blood vessels in his nasal cavity rupturing, and allowing a trickle of blood to leak from his nostrils, he still did not speak.

"I had hoped for a quick resolution to all this pain," Feyd lied, stepping back and raising his arms, "but clearly you are of a different opinion…"

He smiled for a moment, allowing the man to recover from the mental pain so that he could experience the physical torture of Dark Side Lightning first hand. The sharp crack of the bolt hitting the flesh of the fool who dared to conceal the information from them was only overcome by the renewed screaming as the man struggled in vain against his bonds.

Halting the barrage for but a moment, Feyd spoke his question once again, "Where are the rebels hiding on my world?"

A sharp spark of lightning shot between his hands, and the man flinched heavily, which told the Supreme Prophet that he was most thoroughly broken, and ready to confess all he knew. "Tell me, or I will slay you here and now in the slowest and most painful ways I can imagine…"

Turning away, blood, sweat and tears pouring from his face, the man started to speak, hesitating as his nerves flared from the overstimulation due to the lightning, rattling off slowly coordinates and location, indicating that there were several hold out shelters that the rebellion had been using across the planet, mainly situated out in the jungles and wild of the planet, but the nearest being on the very edge of New Kaas City, well within a few hours journey from the Palace itself.

"Good…" Feyd said, turning toward his apprentice and nodding for him to depart, and eliminate these lairs of their enemies, one by one and swiftly. Ekitc smirked widely, before turning and marching from the room, eager to find troopers that would follow him in exterminating the traitors and rebels that fought against them.

Meanwhile, Feyd turned back to his victim, and smirked once his apprentice left, "You friends will be joining us soon enough…" he said, allowing the fear to settle in for what the Supreme Prophet had in store for the man now, "but we are not even close to finished my friend, oh no, no, no…"

Seizing the man's head and forcing him to look the Supreme Prophet in the face, smirking at the fear that echoed in the man's eyes. "Who is the Operative known as Shade?"

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High Inquisitor Gor-lak, chief of the Imperial Forces sent into the Outer Rim to hunt the remaining remnants of the Republic and the rebel allies, watched in irritation as the Commander known as Filius Flitwick slipped through his fingers yet again.

He had been hot in pursuit of all rebel activity in the south reaches of the Galaxy for the last two decades, persuading the Emperor to take the actions of the growing resistance movement more seriously, but alas the Imperial High Command would only give him the barest resources to hunt and slaughter the rebels wherever he located them.

It was absurd how quick the leadership of the Empire when from victorious conquerors to stalled and slothful dictators, lazily relishing in their past victories and ignoring the fact that their enemies had all but eluded them in the end. Very few were even willing to accept the notion that Jedi still lived somewhere in the Galaxy, aside from those who joined Gor-lak's ranks in the Inquisitors.

It was most unlike Emperor Veneficus to allow such corruption to fill the ranks of his non-Force wielding underlings, but the astute leader of their Galaxy-wide Empire was more than a touch aloof as of late, wandering the corners of the Galaxy with a small entourage of his most trusted, or else spending great deals of time in the Imperial Palace of Coruscant, formerly the Jedi Temple, deep in concentration on the mysteries of the Force and the greater implications that it had toward the future of their Empire, and the Galaxy as a whole.

Or so that was how the rumors went from the upper echelons of the Force Adept academies and the lower ranking Prophets of the Dark Side that Gor-lak was in contact with.

In the meantime, the ancient ork spirit, housed with the frame of an aging human body would continue his pursuit of the rebels and dissidents of the glorious Empire, so that he could in his immortal lifetime continue to watch and see how these Sith Lords would continue to rule the Galaxy that they had so thoroughly dominated.

Although his work was constantly frustrated by the network of spies and moles within the populace of the Empire that were feeding the resistance with information to slip away when the Inquisitorial Fleet was closing in on them. Luckily, Supreme Prophet Feyd was working quite closely with Gor-lak, seeking out the main contingent of these rebels, starting from the capital of Dromund Kaas, and the key linchpin in their network, the mysterious agent only known by the codename Shade.

The person or persons unknown had been the proverbial thorn in the Empires side for almost a decade, wherein the Rebellion had surge in activity, breaking in and raiding various locations across the Galaxy-wide Empire, gathering materials to fuel their resistance violently, and making off back to their hidden base.

While the Supreme Prophet sought to hunt down the elusive operative, Gor-lak had taken it upon himself to find the location of the rebel base, or multiple bases if the case was that, and eliminate it. The Ork had a deep suspicion that the leadership of these rebels was more or less hidden in a singular location, behind their surprisingly powerful human magics, and perhaps in collusion with the missing Jedi from over two decades ago.

The hunt had grown slowly more desperate over the years, as Gor-lak was well aware that all the time that these escaped Jedi had to grow and train was dangerous to the Empire, as a new wave of Jedi Knights would challenge their Sith leaders to the very core of their beliefs, and shake those worlds that had once been part of the Republic.

The Jedi had fallen from their position of grandeur, to be sure, but they still existed as a symbol of the Republic that once was, a thought that the Empire and its many servants had worked tireless to erase from the minds of the citizens, but should the Jedi and their allies rise again, the flame of remember ace could spread to all those of the Galactic Core, sparking a war that could last for generations, if not tear the entire Galaxy apart in the fires that the Eternal Emperor would unleash upon them in his anger and rage.

That would be disastrous for the entirety of the Empire, and all that Gor-lak hoped to witness and build, so he would continue his labor, searching for the rebels and hounding them until at last he found their hiding place, and bring their leaders in chains before the Eternal Throne, where he would watch in sinister delight as the Emperor rewarded him with the visual and quite verbose deaths of those foes, and perhaps the acknowledgement that the Ork was an invaluable member of the hierarchy of the new Galactic Order. Would he ascend to a reigning position with the Empire, unlikely, but Gor-lak was a patient one. In time he too would have dominion and power.


	2. C1: Callings

**Chapter One**

 **Callings**

"No, your Majesty, we were unable to learn the identity of the Operative at this time," the Supreme Prophet reported to the Emperor. Watching from the shadows of the newly christened throne room in Coruscant Imperial Palace, which once housed the twelve members of the Jedi Council, Darth Diábolis observed the proceedings of the two leading members of the Empire speaking to each other.

Lord Veneficus was tired, not in the physical sense as his youth and vigor had never diminished in the near half century of his reign as Sith Emperor, but was thoroughly irritated with the constant interruptions of his minions and other leaders with such petty nuisances as a rebellion within his empire, or unknown foes stirring up his people to fight against him. But for the sake of the Supreme Prophet, Veneficus at least made the attempt to look interested in the goings on outside of the center of Force power that was now converted to his personal dwelling.

"I see," the Emperor stated, one hand pulling at the short beard that had grown in the years between his ascendancy and this day, which gave the otherwise youthful appearing Sith Lord a touch of maturity, and while most of the Empire had yet to see their glorious ruler in nigh two decades, he had kept himself quite well for the age that Diábolis guessed that the man had attained in this time.

The rumor that the apprentice had learned, in the dying breath of one of the Emperor's old allies, Drakis Malfay, also known then as Lord Anguis, speaking of some sort of secret that the Emperor had used to conquer death and age, seemed to be proving most true.

Unfortunately, outside of his missions that sent him into the fringe-most parts of the Galaxy, or anywhere outside of the Imperial Palace, Diábolis had lacked any sort of opportunity to actually seek for whatever device or technique that the Emperor made use of to retain his youth for so long.

Even while he was here at the palace, he was conscripted to aid the Emperor, either in training his guards, from the powerful remnants of the old Arcanamach to the new set of Force sensitives that were recruited specifically to watched the outermost areas of the former Temple of the Jedi, or else he was assisting his master in delving ever deeper into the nature of the Force.

Rarely was the Sith Master out of the room deep in the bowels of the Temple, accompanied only by the massive device known as the Great Holocron, seeking wisdom and knowledge that even the Jedi Masters of ages past never knew or understood, all the while remaining in the hidden nexus of Dark Side energy that lay just beneath the once Jedi edifice.

"Yes, your Majesty," Feyd said again, snapping Diábolis' attention back to the present. The Emperor had clearly given the Dark Council more authority in the pursuit of his enemies, more likely in the attempt to make them leave him alone, and therefore grant him more time to his own devices, which seemed to be the driving focus of the Dark Lord of the Sith in recent days.

It was a concept that was most infuriating to the Devaronian. If he was heir to the Dark Side and all its knowledge and power, how was he supposed to have a chance to ascend to the title of Sith Master when the Emperor was already victorious in their grand design, and had demolished the moral of all their foes?

It was almost as though his master desired to abandon the Rule of Two, and yet at the same time house all the collected knowledge about the Force within himself, and not establish a true Sith Empire, like those that had come before. Naturally, Diábolis had not as of yet made the attempt to question his master about such matters, nor did he personally want to hear the answers that he might receive.

The projection back to Dromund Kaas ceased, and the Emperor turned to gaze directly at his apprentice, the lamp-yellow eyes of the Sith Lord seeming to bore into the Devaronian, seeking his secret thoughts and wishes for more power. "The meddlesome fools know not what I seek to accomplish here," the Dark Side Master grumbled, starting to retrace his steps back down to his usual lair, "they care only for the outward façade of the Empire, and the trappings of power that others can see and be swayed by. But not so with us, my apprentice," he said, pausing to place a hand on the wall, almost as though steadying himself.

Such an act was normally unusual for the Emperor, but over the last half decade Diábolis was noticing many strange behaviors about his Master that were slowly becoming more commonplace, as though he was aging in all ways but physically.

After a moment Veneficus resumed his steps toward the lifts, "We seek the dark truths about the nature of the Force, and the glory that it will bring for all time should we unlock them. The Great Holocron is the key, and I shall find the answers I seek…"

It was a theme to the various half-conversations that Diábolis had had with his master as of late. The human Sith Lord was growing more and more obsessed with the massive Jedi Holocron, and delving deeply into its lore and history, more or less neglecting anything outside of the walls of the Imperial Palace.

"You said you had a task for me, my Master," Diábolis prompted, knowing that the Sith Lord might indeed have put the thought from his mind in the distraction that was the communication from Dromund Kaas.

"Yes," the Sith Lord breathed, looking up toward the ceiling as though seeing through it into space and time beyond. "I can sense something moving in the outlying parts of the Galaxy, a threat to us and this place," he turned slowly to look back at Diábolis, hood obscuring much of his face as he spoke, "you must go to the planet Ilum, where the Jedi once sought their Lightsaber crystals, and find what I have foreseen. Be prepared to bring a swift death to those who would threaten my rule, and my quest…"

The Sith Lord trailed off, turning back and speaking softly to himself, as though to a far closer person, and wandered away, leaving Diábolis on his own. If not for the many years that he had seen his Master sliding down this path, Diábolis would have found such behavior most unnerving and strange, but the man far older than he appeared had changed from the vibrant and strong-willed leader he had been.

Did Diábolis think he stood a chance against the man in open combat? Not even likely, as with all the skills and powers that Veneficus had amassed in the time locked away here, he would still be a great force to be reckoned with in any duel, and the confrontation that Diábolis sought with the Sith Master was not ready to be fully commenced. There was a great deal of work that had to be laid in foundation before he was ready to commit to slaying his master and usurping his throne.

Turning back, and ascending to the only remaining hangar that was not sealed or used solely for the guards of the Palace, Diábolis took to his personal ship, the newly styled shuttle that sped up quickly to a waiting cruiser. The _Dauntless_ had never been replaced, and as the Emperor now had the powerful _Terrasque_ guarding Coruscant permanently, Diábolis had been forced to use another, smaller craft than he was used to for his personal flagship.

It was certainly a step down in the eyes of the Empire, but the need for such massive weapons of war had not come about in the two decades of peace that the Empire had won, so no move toward supplying such vessels, which took great effort and time to construct, had been made.

Even the _Terrasque_ had taken nearly all the effort of countless engineers and slaves from the time before Diábolis had been found by the far younger Sith Emperor up until just before its deployment at the end of the war, a monumental effort of foresight on the part of the Emperor, but one that had greatly paid off.

Such was the case, Diábolis hoped, with the visions that the man had had regarding the icy planet that was his apprentice's destination. If a threat remaining to the Sith that even concerned the imposing and reclusive Emperor, then it was something that actually might be of diversion to Diábolis, who had yet to find a worthy opponent since he slew the last Chancellor of the Republic, Lord Anguis.

Settling into his personal chambers on his current ship, Diábolis drew the power of the Dark Side around him like a cloak, trying to dip into the future himself and see what awaited him on the icy planet of Force crystal caves.

He was nowhere near the level of his master in the techniques of seeing the future, but it was sometimes a useful exercise in planning his strategy when approaching a new mission, or even a place he had never before set foot.

He saw the icy tundra of the planet, and a multitude of caves that called to him, the force almost reaching out in agony to him, or any Force user, to come and lend their aid. A strange thing to say the least, as it was not often that the natural Living Force called to a wielder of the Dark Side in such a manner. Was it desperation perhaps on the part of the Force, or evidence of something more sinister at work?

Caution would need to be used, to say the very least about the situation. Diábolis wondered just what was awaiting him on the frozen planet to cause such a disturbance in the Force, so out of place and strange in their current Galactic state.

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Jedi Master Yoda walked through the corridors of Sanctuary base on the planet Hoth, heading from the more military and factory sections of the massive Mage-born created structure toward the facilities that had been devoted to the Jedi Exiles for the reforming of their Order.

Jedi Lord Berethon, the last Master from the Jedi Council that had survived the assault of the Sith two decades prior had summoned him, stating that there had been a powerful disturbance in the Force, and seeking to consult with the other remaining Jedi Masters.

So few of them had truly survived, only seven masters out of hundreds before the war began, and when Yoda arrived, he saw the serious looks that the others were wearing, as they had all indeed sensed the particular shift in the Force. "Master Yoda, thank you for coming," Lord Berethon said, his repulsor chair turning slightly for the crippled human to face him.

"Important it was, so come quickly I did," Yoda responded, walking over and taking a seat in the small circle of seven that remaining of the leadership of their Order.

"I shall make the matter quick then, as I know you all have important things to return to," Lord Berethon stated, "The Force screamed out in pain some short time ago, you all felt it I am sure…"

"Yes, felt it, I did," Yoda affirmed, as did the others.

"Like something was tearing part of my soul from my body," Master Quist said, the older human female clutching her heart.

"I have sensed that this is no act of the Sith Emperor or his minions," Lord Berethon stated, closing his eyes as to experiencing the pain of the disturbance once more.

"How couldn't it be the Sith?" Master Obo Fequell asked, four of the Besalisk's eight arms folded in her lap, while the others held a multitude of datapads, whereupon the Jedi Master was recording her own remembered knowledge, much of which had been lost in the temple two decades ago.

While Yoda himself was aware of the secret copy of the archives that the previous Grand Master of the Order, Fae Coven, had secreted away on some remote planet, the identity of which his own Padawan alone knew, he had not yet made mention of it to his fellows, sensing that the secret of that information might yet still be needed to remain hidden.

"I do not know," Lord Berethon stated, "But I have sent out Lord Teepo and some of his Paladins to investigate the Planet Ilum, from where the disturbance originated, but I have yet to hear from them. Master Yoda, if you are willing, I would wish to send you to find them and discover the source of this disturbance in the Force. If there is some other faction at work here, we must know for the safety of our Order."

"Understand I do, go I will…" Yoda replied, knowing that the Jedi Lord wouldn't ask this lightly of anyone in these troubled times. "My Padawan alone I will take with me. As a team we are, and stronger together than apart we shall be."

"Very well Master Yoda," Master Sisho Nefamm, the Iktotchi female that Ist had been closely working with as of late to help coordinate the efforts of the rebellion, "I will make sure that Ist is prepared and sent to your side when you are ready to depart."

"May the Force be with you, Master Yoda," Lord Berethon stated, calling an end to their short meeting.

"May it be with us all," Sullustan Master Xic Freirty added, emphasizing the dire predicament that they had been in the past twenty or so years. Yoda understood the Jedi Master's pessimism, as while they had trained and obtain many students through the help of the rebellion, only a scant hundred or less Jedi remained out of the tens of thousands that had been part of their Order not terribly long ago.

Their Knights also had the trouble of not being able to leave the system, from a combination of a shortage of ships to use, as well as the fear that the Emperor would sense them outside of the protective spells of the Mage-Born that were sheltering them. Lord Berethon agreed with them all that this shouldn't be the case, that the Jedi should not fear the Sith and still go about their purpose to protect the Galaxy, but there were just too few of them left to risk the extinction of their Order.

For Yoda and Ist to go even now to locate the Teepo Paladins on Ilum was a great endeavor, and Master Yoda expected many of the newly knighted Jedi to beg to join them in the hunt, but they couldn't allow it, as they were not prepared enough for what may await them outside of the system.

Yoda, through the various leaders of the Resistance against the Sith Empire, knew for a fact that there was an entire fleet of Inquisitors that were specifically hunting every souse of the Rebellion, and if they learned that the Jedi were indeed alive and operating again, they would redouble their efforts to seek them out and destroy them.

This quest was risky enough without involving a larger group of inexperienced knights that had been mere children when the war ended two decades ago, and Yoda agreed whole heartedly with Lord Berethon that the time of the Jedi was not now.

As much as they disliked it, the Sith were in power in the Galaxy, and the Jedi were not strong enough yet to challenge them, even in the slightest. Despite the fact that the Emperor seemed to be perfectly content disappearing from the public eye, hiding in the now defiled Jedi Temple and doing Force-knew-what, it wasn't a worthy risk to arouse his ire and attention by flooding the Galaxy with the Light once more at this time.

Having no personal items aside from his lightsaber and a few datapads that would prove useful for the trip and the training of his Padawan, Yoda made his way back toward the resistance base portion of the massive underground facility, ready to meet with Commander Granger, who would more than likely be supplying him and his Padawan with the ship that would carry them to Ilum.

"Master Yoda, I had been expecting you," the former Director of Magi-tech said as she answered the door of her personal chambers. Leading the goblin in, the human female gestured with her wand and conjured a pair of chairs for them, along with summoning a droid butler and bodyguard to wait upon them.

"A ship, my Padawan and I require," Yoda said, seeing no reason to be boggled down with pleasantries.

"I know," she replied, "Lord Berethon sent a message ahead of your mission, and I approve whole-heartedly, the more Jedi we recover from the Galaxy, the closer we could be to returning the fight to Veneficus and his Empire." Her eyes grew cold at the thought of the madman that had ripped the Galaxy away from the Republic.

Pulling a small datapad from the nearby shelf, Granger activated the device, which showed a holoprojection of a sleek ship. "This is the new model that I have recently developed. The prototype is almost finished, only lacking the weapon systems, but I suppose that would only take a short time to put in to make the ship manageable for your mission."

"Yes, little we will need, but the ability to defend ourselves, crucial it will be," Yoda replied. There was a time that Jedi wouldn't have needed ships with weapons on them, but that was long ago.

"Give me a few hours, and you can leave whenever you're ready," Commander Granger said, rising and deactivating the datapad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord Fury grunted in anger as he dodged again. The lumbering giant of an opponent roared as its club smashed into the ground with a sickening thud. The hulking beast, as well as its four companions, each mutated over countless experiments of the Dark Side into fanatical beasts that lived and breathed war and destruction.

Ever since the destruction of the Jedi and the Republic, Fury had thrown himself diligently into skirmish after battle for the final defeat of the remaining hold outs of their glorious Empire, but the life of combat seemed to have been removed from the fight. Fury kept having his mind drawn back to the words of the Jedi that he had failed to kill, who had so thoroughly defeated him, the lead Marauder of the Empire, in battle.

It had been humiliating, destructive, and it enraged him. And since that day he had done whatever he could to improve and develop his skills in battle, striving to be the very best of all Darksiders.

That was why he was here, fighting against five different augmented Dark Side trolls. The beasts sported the same traditional war clubs that they had used prior to their modification, but the hands that grasped them were hardened, and sported massive claws infected with bacteria that would cause paralysis and death within minutes of even the smallest cut.

The dire straits that he placed himself in were unfortunately not the cause of his turmoil, it was that it simply wasn't enough. The danger used to be a thrill for him, but now it was simply an inconvenience. Dancing around the lumbering giants was easy enough, but he grew quickly bored at the lack of true challenge, and that made his angry.

Sheathing one of his twin saber hilts, Fury took the other in a strong, two-handed grip and slashed viciously, digging the blade deeply into the upraised arm of one of the trolls. Even as the beast screamed in pain and the saber slowed to a halt on the powerfully enchanted hide, from both its natural resistances to energy as well as the deep corruption by the Force itself. Screaming in rage in return, Fury heaved all his leverage into the blade, forcing it through the limb in several jagged pushes, amputating the arm of the troll and continuing through to its now unprotected torso.

The beast tried to flee, or swat him with the spiked club, but the Marauder switched to the powerful Djem-So style, and caught the club, the hardened material unable to stand against the might of his weapon, and severing it like butter.

Clutching its stump, the troll fell to the ground, even as it allies tried to surround it, and protect their own from the vengeful Dark Adept. "Now we have a battle," he said, feeling the small stirring of the Dark Side as his anger and hate was tempted to life once again. The trolls bellowed their war cries, charging forward in retaliation, and Fury leapt into the air, turning once to deliver a powerful Ataru strike to the head of one of the trolls, the blade leaving a deep scorch mark on the beast, but failing to have the leverage to truly lodge into the creature that Djem-So produced.

Realizing the inferiority of the acrobatic style for these animals, Fury reigned himself in, restraining his enjoyment of the fight, and centered himself upon his bladework, staying true to the single style that had the power to actually damage these powerful beasts.

Charging forward to duck under a falling club and slashing claws, Fury stabbed hard, throwing all his weight, added to the Force, behind the blade and driving the point in as far as he could through the troll's empowered skin, feeling the resistance as the natural magic of the beast worked hard to prevent any sort of injury from taking place under its hide.

The creatures were strong, and even more so due to the Sith Alchemy that had modified them, which led the Marauder to wonder if they were created by the dark process in the first place. The Emperor had never disclosed such information, and while Fury would have been interested, he doubted that such knowledge would be forthcoming.

Another troll felled, Fury dodged back to avoid the one missing an arm as it flail about wildly, and somersaulted over the swinging club of a third. The beast staggered, overbalancing in its powerful attack, and Fury struck while its back turned to him. Powerful two-handed slashes scored deep cuts along its back, digging deeper and deeper even as the heightened regenerative powers of the beast tried to knit its flesh back together.

The beast tried to turn back, but Fury plunged his saber deep into its leg, pinning it to the ground, and released the hilt, leaving the blade buried in the troll as he rushed the thing's head. Knocking away the clawed arms with the Force, he grabbed either side of the lumpy head, and focused all the power of the Dark Side into a massive pulse of power. Roaring in rage, Fury pulled, ripping the head clean from the shoulders with his bare hand and prosthetic.

The one-armed troll reeled back in shock, while the final troll, who had done little to engage him thus far, remained motionless. Still holding the fallen Troll's head in his mechanical hand, Fury summoned back his saber, stalking toward the armless troll, when the beast's remaining arm flew to its throat.

In surprise, Fury turned toward the last troll, sensing the immense power of the Force within the typically mindless beast. The hulking creature was screwing its face together tightly, massive clawed fist clenched as it strangled the life out of its fellow.

Only when it fell dead did Fury act, turning away from the remaining troll, and wondering how it was possible that the experiments activated some sensitivity within the animal to the Force. The door ahead of him opened, revealing a squad of Imperial troopers, along with a self-important looking officer, carrying a data disk.

"This has come for you, my Lord, from the Palace," she said, handing him the disk and looking around, sniffing at the scent of charred flesh and death. Upon looking at the final troll, which was standing well away from the grey armored figured; she asked Fury, "Do you want that one disposed of, my Lord?"

"No," Fury replied, looking with interest at his new orders. Apparently there was a system wide protest of sorts going on nearer to the Galactic Core, tied in with potential rebel activity in the sector, and with so many of their trusted out on other missions, the Black Fist was Empire. It was not a name that Fury himself reveled in, so focused as he was upon improving himself to overcome his failures at the siege of the Jedi Temple, but there was a certain ring to it that played nicely on the ears when others recognized who they spoke with.

"My apprentice and I will take the Black Fist and handle this pitiful little resistance…" he said flatly, knowing that through the Force the Troll would be able to sense most of his intent, and that would aid greatly where the lack of common language failed them.

Fury had never taken an apprentice of his own before, only assisting partially in the training of his warriors of the Black Fist, but more or less allowing them to govern their own regiments and styles, but this could prove to be the better distraction, he thought, even as the Imperial soldiers departed. Teach this beast all that he knew, and watch it become the greatest of all warriors in the Empire, perhaps surpassing him as the leader of Marauders throughout the Galaxy. The battle he sensed could flow between them would be that of legends.

Turning to face the troll, who looked at a loss for all the sensations of the Force around it, Fury smiled grimly, "We have work to do…"

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Severus Snape, once more acting in his true calling of Potions Master for the Rebellion, sat overlooking the dozens of cauldrons that were in various stages of production, even as the many hands and assistants that he had conscripted to overfill their soldier's needs followed his every instruction.

He had never enjoyed teaching, but now he thought that that might have had more to do with the fact that he had been teaching children rather than willing adults, and the other pressures that he had been under during his time so long ago at Hogwarts. Having just recently turned the ripe old age of eighty-two, he was not the young man he used to be, and now he greatly appreciated all the helping hands that sought to help him where they could.

True, he had to do much of the preparation himself, the magic of a mage-born being what made the concoctions into true potions, but simple acts like adding ingredients and stirring could be done by anyone, and many of the Jedi had close enough to magical natures that they could learn the proper procedures. And Jedi children had turned out to be as mature as adults, if not more so, and were simply a delight to instruct in the ways of the simmering cauldron.

In the ample amounts of free time that he had thusly acquired, not needing to personally oversee every little detail of the production, Severus had taken up an ancient calling, and was trying to desperately recreate the ancient arts of Alchemy, knowing that if any calling or situation could use the ample supply of wealth and power that such a device as the Philosophers Stone could provide, it was the Rebellion. They could pay for all the supplies they needed to fight the good fight, and the Elixir of life could keep their warriors safer than any antidote or healing tonic that Severus already knew.

Naturally, the going was slow and downright frustrating, but Severus knew that they depended on some sort of miracle to occur for them to survive in this evil ridden Galaxy. Even as he poured through a datapad, which detailed what knowledge had remained on New Terra before the planet was destroyed by Veneficus, Severus started to think.

The mad Sith Lord had not aged more than slightly in his early years of attacking the Republic, and while Severus had been limited in what times he had seen the man in person, he distinctly remembered thinking how off it had been for the Emperor to be so young in appearance for his age.

Could it be possible that Potter had acquired knowledge of Alchemy and other techniques from their old home planet before departing, just to return and set everything aflame?

Nevertheless it was a lead, albeit there was very little that they could likely do about it, aside from trying to infiltrate Imperial center, or worse the former Jedi Temple where Veneficus was reported to be living day-to-day in.

Try as he might to dissuade himself from coming up with suicidal plans, the knowledge that Veneficus likely had alchemical knowledge, if not a Philosopher's Stone of his own, tied with their own desperate need for such secrets, and Severus quickly found himself patching a personal communication to the unknown Operative that had sprung up deep in Imperial space a decade ago to aid them: Shade.

As per the usual, only the helmeted head and part of the figure's shoulders were visible when the hologram came to life. "Professor Severus Snape," the informant stated, sounding somewhat surprised. Rightly so at the least, as Severus had never made any attempt to contact the unknown being on his own, although he had been present when others had communicated with the mysterious operative.

"Shade, I have some information about the Emperor I wish to recover." Severus stated, getting straight to the point.

"A dangerous game if ever there was one, I'm listening…" the Operative replied.

"Have you or your people ever come across anything such as esoteric tomes or scrolls, things that aren't Force related but just as strange or unusual?" Severus inquired, and the unknown being simply tilted his head for a moment before answering, "It's possible."

"If that is the case," Severus continued, ignoring the barb of an answer that was previously given. "Then you must know where I might find more of these texts, I am searching for something specific that the Rebellion has dire need of."

The Operative paused for a long moment, seeming to type on a consol, "It is possible," he said after a time, "in fact, according to this you might have a limited window to raid some of the Emperor's personal library as it is transported from Dromund Kaas to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant."

"He's had two decades to do that, why is it being shifted only now?" Severus challenged, wondering why such a clear trap was available.

"You underestimate the vast size of the Emperor's collection of stolen knowledge and treasure…" the Operative deadpanned back, and Severus could sense the look of irritation that he was being given behind the mask.

"The issue naturally will be dealing with the Emperor's security," Shade continued, turning to the side and seeming to type out other commands. "There is a sizable vanguard around the shuttle that is transporting his texts and materials for this recent shipment, but hacking into Imperial manifests for the cargo it seems to be all manner of these sorts of texts that you require. If you can supply some of the manpower, I can orchestrate a plan that will get you on board that ship for a time to search for what you desire. It will be extremely dangerous, and we need to slip in and out without drawing too much attention to what was done."

"So it needs to appear as though a failed raid," Severus added, "or the Emperor will grow suspicious."

"And that's the last thing any of us need is for that madman to awaken from his dusty lair." Shade replied, the pair in total agreement.

"I will speak with the commanders, and get you the manpower you need for this strike." Severus said, unsure why he was so willing to agree to this sort of plan on the fly.

"I'll leave you coordinates to pick up ships and weapons for the attack, so that you blend in with the pirates of the surrounding area, and therefore it will not be apparent that the Rebellion was the one to cause this attack." Shade added, several ping beings sent through to the console that Severus was using. How or where the Operative had such access to such equipment, Severus did not know, but it was mightily helpful and yet disturbing at the same time.

"We shall contact you when we rally the needed soldiers," Severus said finally, and Shade gave him a nod of acknowledgement before cutting the communication.

This left Severus with the hardest job of all: convincing Granger, Flitwick and Lord Berethon. It would be difficult, but they needed the rebellion to supply him with soldiers or Jedi for such a daredevil scheme that was sure to be some sort of trap.

With the Charms Master turned field commander out in the Galaxy, he was summoned via holocommunication while Severus presented the plan, his communication with Shade, and the promise of supplies and ships for the strike if they but brought the manpower to use them.

"I know that it seems like a trap," Severus said after he relayed all that had transpired, "but I feel strongly that this is a risk worth taking. If I can but find a single scroll about Alchemy on that shuttle, it would bring us that much closer to a powerful restorative that would rival or exceed even the properties of Bacta and Kolto."

The two Mage-born looked skeptical, but the crippled Jedi Lord rubbed the growing facial hair on his chin, "you're saying that this miracle cure could even restore functionality to severed limbs and other ills?" he asked.

Severus wondered if the Jedi was asking for personal reasons, locked away in his hoverchair all day and night, or if he was being selfless and wanting to know if they could use this cure to aid the ills of the Galaxy, but in either case the answer was the same, "If I find a way to create a Philosopher's Stone, we could easily spread the cure throughout the Galaxy, given enough time and recourses to mass produce the Elixir of Life."

The man looked tempted to give Severus the green light, but Ms. Granger spoke at that moment, "Even if this is all true, how can we trust that Operative? We gather little to no intelligence regarding him or his motives, let alone if he is even a him and not a her. For all we know, it is a deep cover agent of the Empire trying to find us."

All perfectly acceptable arguments, but Severus couldn't shake the feeling he had that this was their one chance for something that might start to turn the tide back in their favor. "I agree, Shade is not fully trustworthy," he said, knowing that cool-headed logical Hermione Granger would respond to nothing short of his truest reasoning, "however, how can we judge what he, or she, will do with trusted information until we give them a chance?"

"But for such a large, and potential damaging circumstance?" she retorted, but Severus was prepared.

"Larger than average stakes for larger than average rewards. Any new information regarding the Emperor could be on that ship, aside from the Alchemical lore that I seek, even if we find nothing to that end, there ought to be something that will aid us there."

"…and if it's a trap?" she countered back.

"We have our fleet waiting just out of range ready to swoop in and rescue us, naturally, and if nothing come of it to show we were betrayed, then there is no loss." Severus threw in, knowing that the younger woman's argument had to be waning under his logical analysis.

"I… but… you see…" Granger started a few times, growing frustrated. She turned to the other two, and the hologram of Commander Flitwick merely shrugged, while Lord Berethon merely looked back at her, waiting for the effective leader of the entire rebellion movement to make her decision.

"Fine, we will give him this one chance, Severus, but only because you vouch for the need to strike at something as important as this, but I supply that I do not approve of such tactic to win your arguments," she said at last, and Severus had the respect for her to at lead nod in appreciation.

"I will prepare then, and send word that we will meet him a the coordinates he supplies and wait for further instruction then," Severus said, turning to leave at the dismissive and very unhappy gesture that the woman threw him. He had already been aware that this would be the case.

Ever since her husband had turned out to be a plant from the Empire, Commander Granger had found it hard to trust anyone, and had grown somewhat colder and more distant because of it, working more on her ships and droids and leaving the true running of the Rebellion to the Jedi Masters, Commander Flitwick, and occasionally Severus himself.

But it was important to Severus that she quickly learn to have hope for the Galaxy again, as her own leadership was just as valuable as any of theirs, if not more so.

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Hermione watch a short time later as Severus and his party of two dozen rebel soldiers departed into outer orbit, hell bent on their mission to recover whatever they could from the supposed convoy of the Emperor's personal library. It had been less than half a day since Master Yoda had also left, taking his Padawan, who had grown into something like unto a younger sister for the Rebel leader, and it pained her to watch the pair of Jedi depart.

"Things seem to be accelerating once again, in both the galaxy and within the Force," Jedi Lord Berethon commented from her side, where the man now sat in his permanent chair. Hermione's heart ached whenever she saw the once quite proud warrior reduced to such a state, but even with the medical knowledge and supplies that they had liberated before the fall of Coruscant, there was no means for them to heal the broken spinal column without possible further injury, and losing the Jedi Lord at such a critical moment was simply out of the question.

Certainly, if the old tales were to be remembered and believed, the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life could easily restore the Jedi, as well as myriads of others across the Galaxy, but Hermione did not believe that the secret of such a substance would so easily slip from the Emperor's fingers.

The madman who ran the Galaxy was cold, and cruel, and she did not trust that the man hadn't already infiltrated their ranks a dozen times over, trying his best to steal her away for her brilliant mind and creative ideas once again.

That was why she spent every waking hour she could designing every possible weapon and ship she could think of, even if they sorely lacked the materials to build prototypes for her designs, and therefore the datapads with her ideas started to clutter her personal chambers.

"Yes," she eventually agreed with the Jedi Lord, returning to the present, "but I fear that things may start going far too fast for those of us that already saw enough war to last a lifetime. Can we really endure another, and one of our own making at that?"

"Not another war," the Jedi Lord corrected her, shaking his head sadly, "merely the continuation and aftermath of the same war, which will rage on in the hearts of all those who seek freedom from the grasp of the Sith and their dominion."

The finality in the Jedi's voice softened Hermione somewhat. Knowing that there were others who shared her determination to succeed against the vile dictator over their precious Galaxy was soothing in these sorts of times, where Hermione felt as those she was losing control of the situation. Even though she knew that those who fought with her were doing all that they could to help, there were still times she wondered if it was best that she take full charge of the Rebellion and direct them as she saw best for them to proceed? Yet even as she thought it, she wondered how much of that desire the lasting influence of the Emperor in her mind from was so long ago.


	3. C2: The Emperor's Prize

**Many thanks for the views, and those few who reviewed the beginning of book three, and I ask you to please, enjoy the next chapter as much as you've clearly enjoyed the previous! ~F**

 **Chapter Two**

 **The Emperor's Prize**

High Prophet Zhar, lord and ruler of the planet Korriban under the direction and authority of his Majesty, Emperor Veneficus the Eternal, watched in near-bored silence as another potential graduating group of Dark Adepts took to their final trials for all to see. Instead of the standard duel to the death for them all, which had been more common when they had needed only the very best of warriors to help crush the Republic, a new form had been decided upon.

Out in the desert, well away from the Valley of the Dark Lords, while the sun of Korriban beat heavily down upon them all, a massive pit had been excavated into the sandy ground of the planet, and the dozen or so Dark Side disciples had been lowered down into it.

One of the Adepts managing the trial turned to look at Zhar, who was seated in a small covered area with perfect viewing of the bottom of the pit, both due to angle as well as droids who were hovering over it, broadcasting the action for the entire planet to view.

Once they were all inside the pit, Zhar nodded to the conductor of the event, who loudly started to speak down to those who wished to prove their readiness to take what they'd learned out to the wider galaxy, detailing generally the objective of their trial: survive.

The wave of fear that surged up from the pit as it suddenly came alive with beasts from hidden chambers all around was mildly amusing, but Zhar was more keen on watching for what the students would do in the situation into which they had been thrust. None had been given lightsabers for this trial, so they only had what they had thought to bring with them, which admittedly wasn't much.

Naturally, three of them had been caught by surprise, and were torn apart by the beast even before they had a chance to defend themselves. Those lacking in the precognitive abilities of the Force, or who used it too seldom deserved their fate. The other nine stood back to back, forming a large circle in the middle of the pit, keeping all sides covered from the beasts, who started to pace around them, waiting for an opening to strike.

Tuk'ata, or commonly known throughout the Empire as Sith hounds, were force-sensitive beasts normally used to guard the tombs of the ancient Dark Lords, highly intelligent and more than powerful enough to simulate what the students were to face out in the wider Galaxy. If the students were to survive, they needed to quickly realize that they needed to adapt and work like their enemy, banding together so that they all would succeed, else they might all fail.

The Tuk'ata were not patient foes as well, already a group were starting to harass one of the sides of the circle of students, trying to break their line and get around them, while others began devouring the fallen students in a clear attempt at intimidation.

Not that the beasts weren't starving anyway, with how long they had been kept in that pit waiting for this day regardless. In any case, the effect was pronounced enough. The students were pressured into making rational battle decisions, to fight or to flee, and if they wished to be known as warriors of the Dark Side, there was only one real choice.

As the students surged forward to attack the beasts however, Zhar was distracted by an incoming transmission on his personal device. Only a select few knew how to contact him directly via it, and out of those only one was expected to make contact soon. Pulling it out and activating the device, Zhar spoke quickly, his eyes flicking back to the pit every so often, "Euka, how good of you to establish contact once more. Did you finish the task that the Supreme Prophet had for you?"

"Yes Master," the Iradonian replied, her face impassive regarding how her master had known that she was calling. It was a thing that had long lost any sort of impressiveness. "I have just exited Hyperspace over Korriban and will be touching down within the hour at the Academy."

"Good," Zhar said, "good. Report to me when you touch down, there is an important task that I can trust to none other, required of us by the Emperor himself."

The apprentice paused, growing suspicious, "More of his relics and artifacts being transported to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant?" she asked.

Zhar nodded, "Astutely guessed," he responded, but that seemed to only irritate Euka all the more.

"Why does the Emperor hide out of the sight of his people thusly, my Master?" she asked, "surely it would be better for the Empire if their leader actually led them, rather than lurking in his second palace, not even on the capital I might add, and never in so long even making a public appearance."

"It is not wise of us to question his Majesty," Zhar said in mild rebuke, but his face told a far different story. Zhar agreed with his apprentice completely, and felt it deceptively odd that the Sith Lord had all but disappeared from the public eye soon after renovating the former Jedi Temple as his new palace. It couldn't be that he feared anything in the Galaxy, as he ruled over seventy percent of the most powerful worlds in the Galaxy, and had holdings on a great deal more.

It was almost as though he was secreting something in that fortress, surrounded by his personal guards and those loyal to him and him alone, something that was potentially too destructively powerful for the rest of the Empire or else meant for the use of the Sith and the Dark Side only.

That was the true reason that he wanted to send Euka to deliver the next stash of possessions that the Emperor demanded moved from the Sith Core worlds to his personal Palace at the center of the Galaxy. She might have luck enough to overhear something or sense some oddity that would make more sense to Zhar, yet be hidden away from those that the Emperor potentially found to be threats to his power, which the apprentice certainly was not in the Sith Lord's eyes.

Zhar himself on the other hand… He had sensed that there would be great danger to him if he was found prying too deeply into the Emperor's personal life, or even his past more than he already knew. The inquisitors were out in the Galaxy, looking not only for rebels and Jedi, but even defectors from within the ranks of the Sith, and that madden being Gor-lak wouldn't hesitate to eliminate a High Prophet if given the chance.

Therefore, he had to work quietly and slowly, using what tools he had and gleaning scraps of information as they came to light, weaving them together into a useful sense of what was going on regarding their now quite secretive leader.

Euka could tell most of this from just the look her Master gave, and silenced her protests, "I will report to you when I arrive on world, Master." She said subserviently, closing the transmission. Zhar smiled, knowing that she was on the same page as he regarding the Emperor and his mysterious activities, and returned his attention to the pit.

Most of the Tuk'ata were slain, as were around half of the students in their violent charge, but the High Prophet's mind was no longer set on their fate. Rising from his seat, Zhar turned and made his way to the waiting speeder, where a helmeted pilot snapped to attention and started the engine when the most powerful figure on the planet approached him. "Return to the Academy," Zhar ordered, "I have more pressing matters to attend to than watching these fools fight and die."

"Yes, my Lord." The pilot replied, lifting off as soon as Zhar was on board. He settled in for the short trip back to his seat of power, wondering how exactly it would be best for his apprentice to try and glean information about the Emperor in the current climate of the man's absence.

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Kelrek glowered down at the irritating world of Ord Mantell. Stationed still with Marauder Jenah and the last remnant of the actually Imperial army and navy, they continued the war that most chose to forget hadn't actually ended with the fall of Coruscant. There were still many worlds adhering to the old Republic, and stubbornly clinging to the failing ways. It had been their unpleasant job of going to these worlds, one by one, and crushing all their resistance so that they at last could join in with the Empire and begin progress once more, so had demanded the Emperor before he too, forgot all about the war and those still fighting in it.

But Kelrek was hopeful that it would officially end soon, as there were only so many worlds left that flocked around the banners that places like Ord Mantell continued to raise, of restoring the peace of the Republic and overthrowing the Sith oppressors.

It simply was not allowed for them to do this any longer, as it was inspiring rebellion throughout the Empire's territory, and many groups were flocking to these planets in order to take up arms against their rightful rulers.

Even now, with as pitiful as what resources that the planet had to fight them with, it seemed that the people of Ord Mantell were willing to throw their lives away in the sight of a fleet of Imperial cruisers. Srilis and Jenah had already boarded shuttles to take down to the planet and enforce their efforts to take the main commerce and governmental centers, not that there was much of that here on this typically lawless and crime-run planet, but Kelrek had delayed, growing quite tired of the war that had dragged on for years after it was officially declared over.

Truth be told, according to what he had heard was going on with the others who had retired from battle, his was the better lot, as backstabbing and political maneuvering for power was taking to be the great past time of all the Dark Adepts in light of their won peace throughout the Empire, when they weren't hunting rebels and dissenters of course, but all the same, the empire seemed at last to begin stagnating in the lack of a true enemy to fight.

That alone was reason enough for Kelrek to continue fighting the last remnant of the Republic, to keep the fight alive within himself, and to avoid becoming complacent and losing his power and control of the Dark Side.

Perhaps, when the Republic was finally utterly destroyed and forgotten, he and his two allies would be able to relax, and live out their days in splendor and glory of their accomplishments, but only after they had grown in power to rival even that of the High Prophets of the Dark Side, and were considered Lords themselves in truth.

Sighing in resignation as his comlink chimed again, the others probably demanding for him to join them on the front lines, Kelrek turned to his personal shuttle, which was ready and awaiting him, alongside his elite troopers, who all had prepared and strapped in for the trip down to the planet.

Boarding at last, he slammed the inside of the ship to notify the pilot to take off, and sealed loading ramp with the controls. It wouldn't take too long for them to make the safe trip down. The climatic battles of the war previously had more or less crippled the navy of the republic, as well as any space defenses that most of their allied planets had maintained, meaning that control of orbits and Hyperspace lanes had fallen squarely into the Empire's lap, and they were nearly unmatched in space at this point.

The fighting on the ground however was a much different story. Even as the ramp descended and his trooped filed out, Kelrek could sense the intense battle waging around them. Many factions of the remnant were gathered here, desperately fighting against the forces of the Empire brought against them, and slipping into the Force so easily amid the chaos and bloodshed, Kelrek was part of it all.

Walking almost casually through the hailstorm of fire that whipped around him and his troops, he followed his senses to where he knew Jenah and Srilis were pushing the front lines of their enemies.

His lightsaber was almost an ornament at this point, he hadn't drawn it in nearly half a decade for actual combat, as Kelrek had delved deeply into points of the Force and the Dark Side that would, if they were known, have caused him to be killed as rising far above his station. But his two allies, almost sisters to him, cared not for what darkness he brought forth from obscurity, as he was firmly on the side of the Empire, and theirs above all else.

A blaster bolt screamed past Kelrek's nose, but he didn't even flinch, already having foreseen the immediate path that would be free of any danger to him. Arms crossed behind his back, he walked through the raging battle as his troops pooled around him, guarding him as though he were more defenseless than the Sorcerer truly was.

Through crowded streets and plazas riddled with scorch marks and other signs of the devastating battle that was raging Kelrek went, homing in on his two fellow Adepts like a carrier bird to its nest. They, unsurprisingly were in the heat of battle, Jenah deep in the thick of enemy troops on the front while Srilis struck from the rear, each of the heavy lightsaber combatants cutting through the fodder of their enemies without restraint or hindrance.

Nevertheless, Kelrek could see what they did not, and knew that a battalion of tanks were on their way to reinforce their enemy. "Take out their communications, Lieutenant," he ordered to the man at his left, who nodded and dashed off with a squad of four at his back.

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer make his way forward, hands unclasping as he called upon the deadly power of the Force. His troops parted way immediately as lightning surged from his fingertips, striking the front line of enemy soldiers and causing them all to collapse in shock and pain as the life was literally ripped from their bodies.

Stepping over them, and not even pausing his forward momentum, Kelrek raised a hand to the side, stopping a single blaster bolt out of a dozen, holding it in place until he had walked past, and allowing it to fly harmlessly by like the rest. Weapons were wrenched from hands of their enemy, and even more where charged the Sorcerer were sent flying back as the Force user waded into the battle.

One of the troopers, wielding a vibroblade leapt at Jenah from behind, but Kelrek saw and countered, the man being yanked into the air by his throat as the third Adept strangled the life out of him before all his allies.

"I was wondering when you'd bother to show up, Kel…" Jenah stated, impaling another pair of fools that had reeled back in horror at the show of the power of the Force on their comrade.

"Only when the Force willed it to be so, Jen," Kelrek stated, tossing the lifeless body aside into another soldier and walking on, bypassing the Marauder and striding purposefully toward the retreating line of enemy soldiers, "Tanks are coming, but worry not, I will deal with them personally."

The Marauder just scoffed as she turned back to rally her forces to change the fleeing infantry,

Srilis dashed past, the third human Adept only giving Kelrek a quick smirk of indulgence as she rejoined the main fighting force, even as they started to plan their next move.

Reaching the place where he sensed the tanks approaching, Kelrek halted, waiting for a single moment as the building before him exploded outward, revealing the first of a half dozen tanks that were trying to ambush the Imperial forces.

Not even reacting to the deafening explosion of sound, Kelrek raised both arm, lifting the first tank from the ground, and brought his hands together. The grinding of metal and screams from within the tank told all the story as the hulking machine started to implode upon itself, as though crumbled like a piece of flimsy. Tossing the useless ball of metal aside, Kelrek waited for the next tank to arrive.

It did, bearing down upon him with the turret aimed right at Kelrek's head. Two fingers twitched, and the turret veered off course just as it fired, the recoil sending the tank lurching in a direction it hadn't expected, toppling the vehicle and allowing Kelrek's troops to pounce upon it with explosives and welding torches.

The third and fourth were equally simple, none realizing that they were being bested by a single human, let alone a Dark Side Adept. The fifth tried to simply charge over Kelrek, and he grunted slightly as he threw the tank high into the air, allowing it to crash to the ground far in the distance.

Only the last poised any true threat, as it decided to fire without even seeing its target, forcing Kelrek to dodge to the side, and his hand flew to the hilt of his saber. The crimson blade exploded into life, the minute cross guards echoing the main blades pronouncement of violence as they too activated.

The weapon, modeled after an ancient design of the Jedi and Sith of old, spun once as the Sorcerer dashed into the crumbling building, cutting through the last supports of the already heavily weakened structure, and collapsing upon the final tank in a glorious ruin.

Leaping back out to avoid being trapped himself, Kelrek viewed the fruit of his labor, the scattered metal and demolished scrap of the tanks that would have crushed the line of infantry that his two allies had brought to the battle.

Satisfied in the knowledge that he had averted such a disaster, the Sorcerer sheathed his saber and turned back to the group that had retreated to a safer location to plan their offensive of the world.

Walking casually through the scattered bodies of the fallen and their discarded ordinance, Kelrek paused. Clutched in the hand of one of the dead soldiers was a familiar token. Plucking it from the dead man's grasp, Kelrek turned the small icon over in his hands, studying it from all angles and wondering how a non Force sensitive had gotten a hold of such a relic. A small bronzed symbol, clearly of the now extinct Jedi Order, had been clearly cherished by the dead man, as despite the grit and blood that caked its exposed sides, the bronze gleamed where the man's hand had clutched it.

Chuckling to himself, Kelrek pocketed the item, knowing that having such things in the hands of their enemies make their fight all the harder, as faith in something beyond themselves allowed even the most meek of soldiers to become fierce in the face of battle.

If they were to crush the spirit of the Republic Remnant, they had to eradicate the last believe of the Jedi from them, and with it the hope that they would return to stop the Empire once and for all.

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It had been so long since he had been given a task by his Master, or even been in contact with the beautiful darkness that the human possessed. Rarely did his Veneficus come to admire him any longer, or impute much of his dark power into the crimson scales that had taken on a far deadlier sheen.

Zychre normally hunted through the bowels of his master's new nest, seeped with the energy of death and the mysterious power that flowed through everything, like an undercurrent of blackness that spanned the planet of their habitation.

It was delightsome and strangely soothing in its roiling chaos and demands of greater power, but the once small ruby cobra had no thoughts as to taking command of anything. He was content to simply be, and grow in this power and feed on whatever was easiest to acquire.

But for some reason Veneficus had summoned the now quite giant serpent to him, slowly stroking the black-red scales that had been enchanted by the magic of the Emperor, hissing soothing words of bloodshed and pain to him as he explained that valuable things were coming to the from space, and Zychre needed to guard them with his life for the nest-mate, as intruders would come to steal their things, and they were like eggs they were to the human, most precious and very valuable.

Zychre understood, and obeyed without question, entering the massive ship that had come and burrowing deep into the lower parts of the ship, waiting until he was at last returned to the warm cousin of darkness that was their home.

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Eula found it massively odd that the Emperor chose to send a ship from Coruscant to retrieve the items he desired, rather than have them load one on Dromund Kaas and fly it to him, but like her master she chose to not question it, simply boarding when the ship finally arrived at Korriban to pick up its escort, already loaded and ready to depart.

With a final look back at her Master, who nodded subtly his encouragement, she straightened her shoulders and walked on, stowing away her insecurities about the Emperor and the direction of the Empire as a whole and becoming all business, a proper Dark Adept charged with a task from the highest of authority.

Glaring at the soldiers that dared to look in her direction, she took to the front of the shuttle, even as it lifted off and set course for the small frigate that would be escorted to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant by a handful of dreadnaught class capital ships.

Only a fool would dare to attempt to attack them in this situation, but for some reason Euka felt that both her master, and the Emperor himself, sensed that something would indeed happen during this journey, and she steeled herself to that plan, double and triple checking to make sure that everything was ready for whatever sort of complication headed their way.

She could sense an enormous source of Dark Side energy from the hold of the cargo frigate, and could only presume that it was whatever treasure was requisite of the Emperor, but with the royal Arcanamach flanking the entrance, none were allowed entry under pain of death.

Still, as their escort pulled into Hyperspace, bound for the first of several pit stops for fuel and potential maintenance, Euka sensed that something was indeed coming for their ship, and she had better be more than prepared for its arrival.

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Severus was pleased to find, upon arriving at the coordinates provided by Shade, exactly what he had promised them. About two dozen small pirate vessels, as well as weapons and armor for troops enough to pilot the ships. They would be perfectly disguised during the operation to take temporary control of the Emperor's cargo ship and steal away any information regarding the Philosopher's stone, or whatever else might be there for them to take.

Included was a well laid out plotting of where the convoy of ships would go, and their stops along the way, in addition to the ideal location to plan their attack. Everything was perfectly laid out for them, almost too perfectly in fact. Severus grew suspicious in seeing that every contingency had been seen to, and therefore was more muted than the soldiers that had joined him in the attack, who took to the ships and equipment with relish and excitement.

"Enough chit chat people," Severus eventually called out, ordering them all to silence, "We have a tight schedule to keep if we are going to hit that convoy, so I want everyone at their posts and Hyperspace coordinates plotted as quickly as possible so we can ambush the Imperials as they exit for their stop."

"Sir, yes sir!" many of the soldiers chanted back, their old Republic military days snapping back into focus as they returned to the serious nature of their mission. Severus turned to the largest pirate ship, deep in thought. If he were to plan a defense against such a small fleet, he would target the largest ship first, sever the head of the snake before it had the chance to strike, and therefore, to counter such a perceived tactic, Severus turned toward one of the smaller gunships, which had better armor but not as much mobility.

Gesturing at the other commander, a colonel from the old Republic navy to take the larger ship, Severus climbed aboard the gunboat, whispering spells with his wand waving back and forth, adding an additional layer of shielding around the ship for added protection. They would strike the ship with this, and keep the other, larger protective vessels at bay with the weapons that Shade had provided them on these craft, which appeared to be old Empire tech from just after the war, better than most but unlikely to hold off the larger Imperial ships for long.

Together the twenty or so ships lifted up and took to Hyperspace toward the location so indicated by the mysterious operative. A few small hours later they emerged into a dense asteroid surrounded point in space, which Severus was concerned as to why the Empire would make this a stop on the route of such an important cargo ship, however their mistake would prove to be the success of their rebellion.

"Scatter the ships through the asteroids, and be prepared to charge out the moment I give the word, not a moment sooner no matter what ships appear," Severus ordered, and watched as the ships did as he commanded, faster ships darting to the near points to where it was predicted by Shade for the Imperials to arrive. The clunky blast boat that Severus was aboard just got out of sight when the long range sensors picked up a small fleet approaching from the direction of the Sith Core of space. Severus smirked as a trio of massive capital ships arrived, followed closely by the tiny frigate that was their target.

"All units, proceed on the target, keep those cruisers distracted and watch for more oncoming enemies." Severus commanded, and watched as the dark outline of space around erupted with bright flashes as the smaller and far faster ships darted out of the asteroids, lasers and other weapons firing at top speed to disrupt the progress of the convoy of ships.

The crusiers halted, even as the frigate continued closer, trying to snug up against its escort for cover, and fighters flowed out of the larger ships.

"Take us straight for the frigate, let the others worry about the capital ships," Severus told the pilots, watching as their clunky and much slower ship took a straight line of approach to the small Imperial cargo ship in the midst of all the chaos around them.

Two more cruisers erupted out of Hyperspace as a rearguard of the frigate, which complicated matters, but a pair of reckless pilots flew directly at the new arrivals, diverting their weapons as they attempted to outmaneuver the smaller and far faster ships as the strafed the hulking war machines of the Empire.

"Scan the inside of the ship as we approach," Severus said, pulling out some useless broken quills and a scrap of parchment along with his wand, muttering the charm for a portkey on the fly as he watched the readout of the enemy frigate come into view. There were several corridors that would suffice them to travel to, and the hold of their ship for the return, although portkeying through a vacuum seemed near to death, desperate times called for these sorts of measures.

Dashing to the main hold of the ship, where the rebel commandos were waiting for their orders, Severus tossed portkeys to the group leaders, ordering each troop to take hold and not let go if they valued their lives.

Set to go immediately, and specifically tailored, each Portkey triggered when the entire troop behind a given commander placed their hand or finger upon it, winking them out of existence and presumably onto the enemy vessel.

Only when the last troop had departed did Severus gather his magic together, and turned on the spot, flinching at the jarring cold as he apparated through the cold vacuum to the frigate. Landing heavily in a crowded corridor, Severus had little time to shake off the frigidity that had taken his limbs before he registered that it was a full blown battle going on around him.

Blasterfire rocketed down the corridor from both sides as the rebels fought to claim their foothold on the ship. Raising his wand, Severus spoke a powerful cutting curse, slicing through the metal wall that led to inner parts of the ship, unwilling to allow them to be bottlenecked in this corridor so soon after arriving.

The wall fell inward, revealing another room filled with rebel troopers, still shaking off the effects of the portkey. Severus charge through, followed by a few others, and took the lead of the detachment in storming around to the back of one of the ends attacking their main force.

Blasting several troopers with powerful hexes, Severus smirked as the group's attention was diverted to his own outflanking maneuver. A shield took the hammer blow of their retaliation volley, even as the rebels at his back took their positions to return fire.

Falling back through the throng as they began their attack, he spoke swiftly to the unit leader, "keep them occupied, I am going for the vault and the prize we seek, I will returned soon."

"May the Force be with you commander," the officer replied, his small blaster pistol already drawn and firing at their enemy.

Severus dashed off to where the schematics had told him the vault was located, at the very botton of the ship, and like heavily guarded. Checking himself for the lightweight armor and small spellblasters that Granger had all but demanded he carry, Severus snatched a grenade from an internally expanded bag on his person, he primed it and started with all haste in the correct direction.

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Euka wasn't terribly surprised that they were attacked, but what had caught her off guard was the swiftness and decisiveness of the strike, as well as how efficiently they boarded the frigate. She had expected a prolonged space battle, where the efficacy of their cruisers would be superior, before the rebels found a way to board the frigate.

But this, with them randomly appearing out of thin air on board and attacking she was not prepared for, and a strike team that invaded the bridge nearly caught her off guard, if not for the speed and gift of the Force she might have been shot.

Instead, her saber activated and deflected the wild opening shots of the appearing troops with a split second to spare for her to recover before the battle truly began.

Before the next barrage, she charge, leaping high over the heads of the rebels and landing heavily in their midst. The twin blades of her Saberstaff whirled at high speeds, forcing those who were not caught and maimed by the attack to scatter, opening them up to the security's counter attack in their defense of the bridge.

Grabbing one of the fleeing soldiers with the Force, Euka slammed the heavily armed humanoid into the deck, relishing the snap of bone as the being's head angled improperly and died instantly, which allowed Euka to turn and focus her attention on the rest, who were desperately trying to back out of the bridge under pressure of the security measures that she had prepared, albeit in the presumption of a defense of those trying to get into the bridge, rather than leave from it.

Nevertheless, it served the same purpose of preventing the escape of these rebels as the Imperial forces destroyed them, eliminating the immediate threat to the integrity of the ship, but Euka was already disabling the security on the door to venture out and move on to the next knot of rebels that had invaded.

She sensed that someone powerful was on board, not a Force user, but powerful nonetheless, and was moving through the ship quickly down toward the hold, and whatever treasure or prize that the Emperor had requested moved to his Palace on Coruscant.

Flying through the corridors of the ship, with orders for those remaining on the bridge to seal it once more and stay alert for another attack trying to take the ship. Unfortunately, Euka found rather quickly that the rebels had purposely set themselves to block the route from the bridge to the hold by blocking intersections and planting explosives on strategic routes to force the Dark Adept to deal with them pocket by pocket or move around them in elongated routes.

Growing ever more frustrated at the pain that these rebels were causing her in trying to achieve her goal, Euka finally got fed up and activated her saber, cutting a swift circle out of the floor of the deck and allowing herself to plummet straight down to the next level of the ship.

This she continued, working steadily toward the source of power that she sensed, and hoping that she might intercept it before whomever it was affixed to acquired what they sought from the Emperor's treasure.

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Severus stepped over the next pair of Imperial soldiers that he had felled, knowing that he was getting close to the vault on the ship, which according to the manifest that Shade had provided them, was where the Emperor's texts and other treasures were being kept.

The one problem was the last room before the vault itself. Without even going in, Severus could sense the darkness that always heralded the personal guard of the Emperor, who would be powerful Force wielders and possibly Mage-born as well. Granger had done more than enough in making sure that the leaders of the resistance were aware of all the secrets she had learned under New Terra regarding the fate of Blaise Zabini, and the origin of the Imperial Royal Guards.

Severus knew that they would be powerful, but still his need to enter the place beyond was greater, so after taking a deep breath, centering his quivering magic, he stepped into the room fully, wand brandished and ready even as the twin saberpikes of his new adversaries activated at the threat that he posed to them.

Even as the pair started to advance on him, he flicked the implement at the feet of one, frowning as his small spell reflected off the shield that had come around the figure. It would prove to be irritating situation, and Severus immediately switched to harder hitting and borderline dark spells.

He started with blasting the floor beneath them, rupturing the metal and sending fragments flying at the pair of armored warriors. Unsurprisingly, they dodged or blocked the shrapnel, but the small distraction allowed Severus to apparate behind them, where the armor was weaker and quickly spin and fire a pair of shattering curses at the rear point of their armor.

The pair staggered forward, unable to react swiftly enough to the abrupt change of attack, and their dark helmets fell apart around their heads, revealing the same face mirrored in each of them. Severus had been expecting it, but it was still eerie and horrific to see the face of a former student, now a man, twice over and filled with hatred and rage at him specifically, while still wearing the formal dark robes of their enslavement and the weapons of torture and death that Veneficus had personally placed into their hands.

Spells flew from the wand, and a great many of them were deflected as Severus walked back toward the sealed door to the vault. Innumerable wounds were on the pair of clones, but still they advanced with a sickening fanaticism.

Severus was nearly out of tricked, short of fleeing the room and trying to draw them away, as their skill with their weapons of choice were exceptional, and the pair hadn't even yet begun to use the Force to counterattack him, when the door slid open once more, and a trio of rebel troops flooded in, distracting the guards as they opened fire.

One turned to face the new threat, and Severus struck like the motif of his house, a Killing Curse impacting one of the Zabinis in the back of the head, while the second continued to fight, deflecting shots in all directions, and finally unleashing his power with the Dark Side, throwing the troopers around like rag dolls with his telekinesis.

Severus threw what spells he could into the mix, but he was focused on getting the vault door open, hoping that the distraction would be enough to permit him inside the chamber beyond, as he could tell they were running out of time. Just as he thought he got the mechanism to work, a searing pain impacted his wand arm, and Severus felt his wand fall.

A crimson beam was projecting out of him at the shoulder, already destroying the nerve endings and preventing the arm of being remotely functional again, but Severus darted forward into the room, scooping up the wand with his good hand when the saber was removed from him, and banishing the guard back into the previous chamber with a hasty spell.

The door slammed shut, and Severus, running on adrenaline quickly snapped a locking charm on it, before falling to his knees from the agony of his screaming shoulder. He was trained in medical magic, but performing on one's self was tricky at the best, downright dangerous at the worst.

However, Severus had no real options if he was going to make it out of here alive. Wincing as he moved to aim at his shoulder, he cast diagnostic spells to see what the damage was, grunting as he found that the joint was more or less gone, and his arm was hanging quite literally by a thread. He would be able to make it function, and encase it in protective magic to keep it from detaching completely, but he would need to be submerged in bacta empowered by runes for the limb to regrow properly, along with a strict regiment of potions that he only had some of right that moment on him.

Drawing a deep breath, he numbed the area swiftly and cast the spell to replace the missing joint and bone with conjured silver, bound and controlled by his will alone, then layered protective spells and charms over the magical patch and the rest of the arm to do what he could to prevent further damage.

Only when all was done did he even bother to turn, and ignoring the sparks and destruction that flashed on the other side of the door he had sealed, start to observe his surroundings.

It was just as he had suspected, mountains of tomes and other items scattered around the room, which was in and of itself immense. So much was this that Severus wondered why exactly the Emperor thought such a small ship was sufficient to protect these valuables.

Working quickly, for he knew that time was drastically short, Severus conjured a handful of wisp-like lights, and sent them out with his magic, using his will to keep them searching for a specific phrase or magical aura that would accompany a book regarding Alchemy, while he himself started with the stack nearest, gingerly setting what tomes he thought were unneeded into a new pile and hoping to take what was useful to their cause into an expanded bag that Granger had provided for him.

He had just found one that looked particular interesting, and was placing it into the bag, when he froze, sensing movement from the back of the room, and a loud hiss filled the chamber. Cursing the deceptiveness of the Emperor, Severus turned, squinting just in case he faced the King of Serpents, but the shape that emerged was bright red and gleaming.

Severus knew that this was something far worse than a Basilisk at that moment, because he recognized the scales of an Indian Ruby Cobra instantly, as their poison was powerful and used in a variety of potions, but one of this size, and clearly modified by the power of the Dark Side was an unnatural being. Knowing no other strategy, he turned and fled, hoping to lead it away.


	4. C3: The Crystal Caverns of Ilum

**Many thanks to those who reviewed chapter 2. Many things are happening with this final instalment of the story, and I have big ideas, courtesy of your encouragement and support. in that light, please relax, R &R and enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Three**

 **The Crystal Caverns of Ilum**

Ist had only been to the planet Ilum once, long ago when she was an initiate about to become the age where she would be able to be selected as a Padawan, seeking her first lightsaber crystal alongside Grandmaster Coven, who dutifully took each group of new potential Jedi to the caves there for The Gathering.

It had been an enlightening opportunity, but seeing it now in this state of ill repair, and sensing the flow of the Dark Side over this place made her sick in her heart. Leon had been part of her initiate group, and the boy was gone now. Ist had sensed when the former Jedi Padawan had died, and even though she was now nearly ready for her trials to become a full Jedi Knight, the Bothan still felt the cruel sting that the Sith had inflicted on those she was close to.

"Feared this would be the case, I did," Master Yoda said, as they disembarked onto the icy, crystalline world. "To the Crystal Caves, go first we should," the small goblin said, pointing with one of his small fingers.

Ist nodded, agreeing immediately. In addition to their mission of finding the Teepo Paladins and determining the reason for their delay, they had also been tasked with retrieving as many crystals as they could find for the use of the future generations of Jedi that would be trained back in what was now called Sanctuary Temple. For this cause she had been given numerous, magically expanded packs that could carry many times their dimensions in cargo, which would prove most useful.

The two Jedi quickly set off toward their destination, keeping keenly aware of their surroundings at all times, and constantly on the alert for specifically signs of movement. Despite this world being stricken from all galactic knowledge, in order to be protected as a Jedi retreat and place of meditation, the Sith no doubt had learned of its existence from the Archives of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. And while Ist knew that the Darksiders had no need for the crystals themselves, preferring to make their own synthetically, which produced the crimson blades that they so loved, it would still be an act against their hated foes to destroy the last temple that existed on the planet here, as well as the entrance to the massive network of caverns beneath it.

Soon enough, the pair mounted a ridge and could see the large temple in the distance, looking reasonably untouched by war or attack from the outside, but as the place had been mostly abandoned by the Jedi since the previous Sith wars, Ist couldn't be too sure of what they may yet find within.

"Cautiously we go, from here on," Yoda said, stretching out with the Force to sense if anyone was nearby.

Ist followed suit, placing one hand on her master's shoulder to add her strength to his own. "I sense something, deep in the caverns, but it's too far and shrouded by the power of the crystals…" she said after a time.

"Then investigate more closely, we will," Yoda said, starting toward the entrance of the temple, and Ist had to jog slightly to keep up with the pace the small goblin put them through. It was a strange thing, that one so small had so much energy. Ist was beginning to think that Master Yoda could do almost anything, his mastery over the Force was so strong. It was reassuring to have him at her side, especially in such dangerous times as this.

The journey down to the temple itself was more uneventful then the approach up to the ridge they had been on, and Ist felt many of the same emotions that she had when visiting the planet and the caves beyond the temple in happier times. Despite the empty walls, where holorecords and other items ought to have been, making the entire place seem emptier than a nexus of the Force deserved, there was still an aura of peace and tranquility that remained.

However, now there was a strange undercurrent of unease and darkness hiding far beneath the normal pleasant feelings of the temple, and at the central point of the temple, far below the many levels of the bare and icy temple, they could already see that the frozen waterfall that ought to cover the entrance to the crystal caverns was carved open and forcibly revealed.

What was more, there were figures scattered before the opening on the ground, in robes of brown and armors ranging from grey to white. "The Teepo Paladins, found them we have…" Yoda said somberly, and Ist had to agree.

Quickly they descended to the lowest level of the Temple, and approached the fallen bodies. Just as they had suspected, they were members of the Paladins, their weapons scattered and clear decisive _lightsaber_ wounds on them.

"Caused by the Sith?" Ist asked, but Master Yoda seemed just as puzzled by it.

"Be certain of that, we cannot," the goblin replied, and he looked up at the gaping hole in the ice. "Our answer, in the caves we must seek…"

Together, Master and Padawan looked at each other, mutually agreeing without words to take hold of their sabers, just in case they ran across the same unknown figures that had killed the Paladins, and together they ventured forth, immediately observing that mining operations had been used on the early crystal formations, harvesting and quite effectively damaging the naturally growing crystals of the icy world.

"Why would the Sith be after natural crystals?" Ist wondered aloud, but as they went deeper into the caves, there were no answers found, only more questions as the devastation to the natural wonder and beauty of the caves continued.

The worst part was when a large chamber opened, and it appeared that some being had forcefully wrenched chunks of crystal from the walls, leaving them like clutter on the ground of the cave. Small fragments of crystals remained, but as Ist gathered a few to see if they'd be usable, the small shards of green and blue suddenly shifted, their hew darkening to a pure black, and giving off a fear and pain that resonated through the Force for the younger Jedi.

Gasping in shock and surprise, she dropped the tiny fragments, which fractured into particles on striking the ground, something that saber crystals ought not to have done. "Whomever or whatever is here," Ist declared, catching her Master's attention, "they're devouring the energy from the crystals, literally killing them and draining the Living Force from them."

Yoda narrowed his eyes, trying to understand what they might be facing, but neither Jedi had a clue what they may be facing in this place, and therefore they had no choice but to continue on, especially if they hoped to find untouched or destroyed crystals to return to _Sanctuary_.

As they were about to reach the largest chamber within caverns, which was where the main part of the Gathering was held and located, they heard the tell-tale sounds of lightsaber combat. Dashing forward, they looked down from their high vantage point, seeing Jedi Lord Teepo, as the masked and heavily armored Jedi battled with what Ist could only describe as a Sith. Not one of the two Sith Lords that currently ruled the Galaxy, but one of the Red Sith race, an ancient and presumed nearly extinct species of Force Sensitive peoples that the original Dark Jedi had discovered and enslaved, creating themselves as the literal Lords of the Sith.

But what truly drew her eye was the blade that the ancient figure was wielding against the Jedi Lord. The blade was pitch black, lacking any coloration whatsoever and seeming to draw in the light around it as it was swung in the midst of battle.

This Darksider; this creature, seemed to be warping the Force around it, decaying and destroying everything in its path as it drew heavily upon the Dark Side, and the being wasn't alone. Surrounding the pair were many more fallen Paladins, as well as black robed and masked figures that all held black lightsabers, or who worked feverishly to extract more crystals from the massive chamber, and Ist spotted at least one using the Force to draw away the color and nature of a crystal as they harvested it.

Lord Teepo was a great warrior, but even he couldn't stand against so many, and both Yoda and Ist knew that it was up to them to try and save this Light Side leader.

Without another thought, Ist threw herself from the high vantage point, using the Force to guide her landing directly behind several of the guards watching their duel between the sith and Lord Teepo, even as Yoda leapt wide, fipping end over end to plant his feet against a high ledge and thrusting himself down like an arrow at the leader, their lightsabers activating and causing a mass of confusion among the ranks of their mysterious enemy.

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Diábolis couldn't believe his eyes at what he was seeing. He had come swiftly to Ilum on his Master's request, and not only had he found that some Jedi still lived, which was only marginally surprising, but that an entire group of Dark Side Adepts, clearly not affiliated with his Master or the Empire, hard at work stealing crystals from the caves, and manipulating the Force within them to draw out all presence other than a frightening Void.

A Jedi might have construed this as the Dark Side, but even Diábolis couldn't sense much from the crystals that these others had gathered, even if they themselves wielded the power of the Dark Side, quite effectively as well with how they slaughtered the robed and masked Jedi that swarmed to stop them. Only the Jedi leader survived, battling heavily with a literal red sith, the being's black blade clashing heavily with the azure one of his opponent.

What was more amusing, and somewhat surprising was the near spontaneous arrival of another pair of classical Jedi, a Bothan female and some creature that was small, green, and extremely familiar to Diábolis. For Jedi Master Yoda to have survived the war was a great surprise, as Diábolis had read the report that had declared the green Jedi as dead, detailing the event of his death and his crimes against the Empire.

However, there he was, bold as brass as he leapt into combat against these black saber wielding Darksiders, even as he and presumably his Padawan fought their way to the masked Jedi leader. He had learned much about this, and technically Diábolis could, probably should withdraw and contact his master to report his findings, but there was something more he wished to do.

If the Jedi had survived, they could prove to be effective tools for Diábolis specifically, in plotting the course of overthrowing his master. It could be completely destructive for the Sith apprentice to do what he was considering, but as he unclipped his lightsaber twinblade, he made his decision. These Jedi had to live, so that they could continue to fight against the Empire and his Master, thus weakening the man's stranglehold on the Galaxy and potentially opening an opportunity for Diábolis to take control for himself.

Leaping into the air, he flew down to flank the swarming figures, the twin crimson blades igniting amid the sea of black blades. Ducking low and cutting upward, the Sith Lord lashed out to kill the first unaware Adept that had turned to face off against the Jedi.

All figures turned toward him, and despite the heavy black robe and drawn hood, Diábolis knew that they were all aware of who and what he represented. "Jedi… on your left!" he called, warning the female Bothan of the enemy that was attempted to attack during the distraction. The moment shattered, and battle roared to a new height.

Diábolis fought like a rancor, breaking through the ring of warriors to the three Jedi in the center, and somewhere in the chaos the leader of these dark warriors vanished. Diábolis knew he was not trusted instantly by the Jedi, but he also knew they would not strike him in the back, and so he turned to face off against the encircling ring of enemies that attempted to hem them in.

"Suggestions?" he asked blithely, even as he clashed with a pair of the enemy, crimson blades shuddering under the strength of the jet black ones that collided against them.

"Strategic withdrawal?" the masked Jedi said, cutting through the defenses of another foe with a deft Djem-so strike.

"Agree with that, we do," Master Yoda added, and together the three Jedi and one Sith Lord thrust outward, the Jedi using telekinesis, while Diábolis unleashed a torrent of lightning, all succeeding in surprising and driving back their attackers.

Breaking away from their attackers, the four rushed through a side tunnel of the crystal caverns, and Diábolis lagged behind the Jedi intentionally, looking for the first opportunity to break away completely and make his way to the surface alone. His personal task completed, he wished to leave this planet and make his report, heavily edited, to the Emperor.

Unfortunately the tunnel seemed more or less linear, and the mob of other Force users were chasing after them, leaving him no option but to slow down their pursuit. Turning abruptly, he channeled the Force into a powerful scream, resonating and shattering many of the crystalline formations, which exploded outward with magnificent effect, showering the black robed beings with the razor-like shards and slowing them drastically.

Turning back, the Sith Lord dashed to keep up with the Jedi, knowing that his tactic would only delay the others for a short time, and he was better off with the Jedi than alone.

The Jedi had arrived at a larger chamber, with two branching paths, and Diábolis arrived quickly behind them, "There isn't much time before they'll catch up, which way?" he demanded, but the Jedi seemed puzzled by the disturbing Force auras that conflicted throughout the cavern. Even the Sith Lord could feel it.

"They're trying to confuse us so that we cannot escape…" the Bothan said, realizing the true nature of their peril.

"Well reasoned, young Jedi," Diábolis said, completely sincere of his compliment, but the others looked at him in dubious suspicion.

"Yes, I am not your ally normally, but the enemy of my enemy is, for the time being, my ally…" Diábolis said, rolling his eyes under his hood.

"A temporary truce, until what? You betray us to your Emperor?" the masked Jedi accused, but Diábolis heard the sound of running from the passage they had just left.

"We can worry about that, if and when we make it out of these caves alive, I suggest we split up and make our way back to the surface," the Devaronian suggested quickly, "I'll take that passage, and you take the other," he added, pointing to the one on the right, then the left.

"I am going with you," the Bothan Jedi said, surprising them all, "If he finds the exit, then it would be better that one of us have a way to lead the others out," she explained quickly, but Diábolis was already moving toward the passage of his choice.

"Do what you will Jedi, but we're running out of time!" he hissed quickly, not wishing his effort in preserving their lives to be wasted.

In the end, the two older Jedi allowed the Padawan to do as she would, and the Bothan jogged swiftly to catch up with the Sith Lord, and together the pair ran into their passage, which curved and twisted for a long while.

"I sense that our enemy has split up to follow us," Diábolis stated as they ran, the blades of the sabers being the only light in the otherwise dark chamber. What he did notice in the light, was that the Jedi was quickly ripping crystals from the walls and placing them within a bag at her waist as they ran, hardly checking if the crystals were actually attuned to her or not. It was a clear indication to the Sith Apprentice that the Jedi Order indeed had survived the war, and a most enlightening discovery that he would love to keep from his Master for as long as possible.

And indeed, before they made it to the end of the next long corridor, the sounds of running feet were rapidly closing in on them. "We'll have to stand and fight…" Diábolis said, looking around at the next chamber, which abruptly halted. They had gone the wrong way.

The young Jedi seemed to be in agreement, and together the pair turned and faced their pursuers, the yellow and crimson blades filling the room as the host of four black blades entered. Their foes seemed pleased that they had nowhere left to go, but Diábolis wasn't about to allow some foolish acolytes hinder a Dark Lord of the Sith in his triumphant moment.

Leaping high into the air, the Devaronian crashed down onto a group of three, immediately kicking one away as he blocked the abrupt and awkward slash of a second. The Bothan girl charged in, her blade held in the traditional Makashi stance of a true duelist, and engaged the final, parrying his inelegant blows with surprising grace and ease.

Allowing the full power of the Dark Side flow through him, and calling upon the hatred that Diábolis had for his master, as well as the Jedi that had caused all his pain, he fought savagely, lashing out with his own body, his blade, and the Force, batting aside the pathetic attacking of his adversaries, and grasping one of the beings by the throat with a gloved hand, squeezing the life out of him while one end of his twinblade shut off, the active blade parrying the other two's attacks as he used the third as a living shield.

Casually sparing a glance at his Jedi companion, Diábolis was pleased to note that she was more than holding her own against these frauds and fools. Throwing the being in his clutches to the ground, snapping the neck he held in the process, Diábolis allowed himself to give in only a bit more to the Darkness, unleashing a blast of telekinetic energy in all directions to throw off his opponents.

The sharp crack of splintering crystal was a sound that he did not expect in return, and he widened his eyes as the ground beneath the combatants opened up, swallowing himself, the Jedi, and the other Darksiders into a void of blackness.

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Zychre rose up the moment he sensed someone unwanted in and among the precious treasures of Veneficus. A small human was scurrying about, taking what they pleased from the nest that the Ruby Cobra was meant to protect, and he would not allow it.

Surging forward, tongue feeling the air of the human's fright at his presence, the massive serpent lashed out, missing as he bit into thin air. Sensing through powers that his master had given, Zychre knew where the man had fled to, and could see through the magics that sought to confuse and distract him from his prey.

Circling back around swiftly, Zychre dove forward, crashing through a pile of treasures, maw opening wide to try and swallow whole the intruder, but the flashes of bright light and a powerful blow to the head knocked him away. Sputtering and hissing angrily, Zychre tried to turn once more and locate his prey, but the man had withdrawn back to where he was originally, hastily sifting through the treasures of his master.

Enraged, the massive serpent charged once more, a near-roar of anger ripped from its mouth as the door to its chamber flew open and more intruders appeared, firing their weapons at him. The bolts of magical fire did little against the ruby cobra's mighty scales but arouse its anger further, and Zychre rolled and thrashed, trying to crush or bite as many of those who dared to invade the place of Veneficus' treasures as he could.

The beings scrambled to get away, but the massive coils found a target, and the serpent relished the wet sounds of the body being broken by the sheer weight place upon it. Thoroughly consumed with its task of defending the lair of his master's prizes, Zychre used one of the many abilities gifted him by his master. Opening his jaws wide, he unleashed a torrent of powerful fire, the embers unable to affect any of the protected treasure that Veneficus had carefully gathered over the many years.

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Severus watched in horror as the massive abomination raged about the chamber. Fortunately for him, the arrival of fellow rebel soldiers allowed him the necessary breathing room to actually start sifting through the massive collection of items for what they sought unmolested.

The fact that such a beast was present confirmed that the Emperor knew much regarding Alchemy, and perhaps some esoteric discipline of the Dark Side of the Force that functioned much the same, as the creation of gargantuan creatures in this manner was from the darkest branches of the Dark Arts.

Throwing books aside from the piles, Severus was hurriedly taking what he felt would be potentially of use to them, knowing that their time was direly short with the monster rampaging through the room after the troopers, breathing fire of all things now.

Finally the wisps of light returned, beckoning Severus to a specific location, and hovering around a particular book. Throwing those above it to the side in his haste, Severus grinned. There it was; a book that he recalled faintly seeing once on Albus' desk when the old man was preparing to protect Nicholas Flamel's Stone. Naturally it wasn't the same volume, nor did it even possess a title, but the feel of the book and the magic wafting off of it was the same.

Hastily grabbing it and stowing it in the bag with the others, Severus shot sparks into the air, signaling that they needed to withdraw, and fled toward the door. If the troopers got in, that must mean the last royal guard was defeated, and they could rush back to their ship and escape before more of their forces were destroyed.

Only when he exited did Severus realize that his comlink had been jammed while inside the chamber, as it burst to life with the chiming and hurried reports of the various others on this mission, all scrambling to keep the capital ships and their fighter's occupied to give Severus as much time as he could need.

Putting on a burst of speed, Severus took off back to the predetermined location where the remaining rebels were going to portkey back to their ship from. "This is Severus," he said into his communicator, "bring the ship back in to the frigate, we're pulling out now. All fighters, we need just a bit longer before we can escape, hold out until further notice."

"Understood!" a pilot stated, and Severus felt more than heard or saw the ship around him angle, as though trying to veer sharply away from the approaching enemy. Rushing through the next door into a wide corridor, Severus was surprised that there was still a firefight going on, and that his forces hadn't started falling back as of yet.

Turning to see what the blockage was, Severus paused, seeing the flash of crimson blades as a young female Iradonian, her eyes aglow with vengeance and fiery orange color, mowing slowly through the barricades and barrages that the Rebel fighters were throwing at her.

Wand slapping into hand as he moved, Severus quickly swept through the line of troopers, spells flying to join the throng of blaster shots, "Enough of this, we're leaving!" he shouted, ordering them to pull back to the extraction zone as swiftly as possible.

The woman tried to leap forward at him in the face of a lightened attack, with so many of the troopers immediately turning to race back to their escape, but Severus caught the movement out of the corner of his eyes. A simple flick of the wand, and Severus tore up the deck between them, slamming it upward into the ceiling and forming a wall of metal and jagged edged, even as the crimson blade of the potential assailant crashed through his barricade.

"That will hold them for a few moments, let's go." Severus said, reclaiming control of the situation swiftly, and watching the rear as his soldiers ran for the extraction point, keeping aware of the other corridors for an attack from another side.

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Euka raged as the Mage-born created the barrier preventing her from getting at the last of the Rebels, pratically effortlessly. Her saber carved through the newly organized wall with the screeching groan of the metal being burned and cut away. Despite the ease at which her masters made the task appear, Euka had found that cutting through a sheet of thick metal, especially such as this which was used to panel the corridors and decks of the ship, was no small task.

This being the case, she only bothered opening a small semicircle of the newly made wall, before smashing her way through with the Force afterward. To no one surprise the rebels had fled from the other side of the corridor, and Euka took off in pursuit, following the Force as the Sith commandos followed in her wake, making certain that there were no flanking maneuvers prepared to trap them in the corridors.

She had a sinking feeling that the rebels pulling out and not trying to take control of the ship could only mean one thing. They had found what they wanted from the trove of the Emperor's treasures, and were trying to get away.

"Commander," Euka shouted into her communicator, "open fire on any ship that approaches the frigate, the rebels have stolen items that belong to our Emperor and are trying to get away."

"As you command, my Lady," the admiral in charge of the fleet of escort cruisers replied sharply, but Euka cut the signal quickly to patch into the captain over the frigate itself, "Pull hard away from any ship trying to pull in close to the frigate, break away from our trajectory for Hyperspace if you have to."

She knew that the standard procedure for such an attack would be for the target ship, the Frigate, to flee immediately to the Hyperspace point and take off to the next rendezvous point, but due to the immediate boarding and the need to prevent the Rebels from escaping, Euka wanted to leave their goal here for them to try and capture, giving their ships more time to kill them all.

Determining where the rebels had gathered, Euka rammed into the last door that was in the way of her and her prey. Unsurprisingly it was sealed, probably held in place by the sorceries of the Mage-born commander, and Euka plunged her saber deeply into the controls of the door. Still it did not open, which the Dark Adept sighed heavily at and started the arduous process of cutting through the door once again.

The commandos arrived just as she got halfway through the door, and a trooper approached, offering a trio of fragmentation grenades to Euka, which she smirked as she accepted. Two were placed at the edges of her cut to blast open the door, meanwhile she primed the third for throwing into the room once the door opened.

"Do it," she commanded, and the lead soldier pressed the detonator for the two charges. With a resounding blast the door was blown inward. The grenade flew inward at the small nudge of the Force by Euka, and detonated inside, but something was completely wrong.

Dashing inside, blades alight, Euka found the room completely empty, and from the large viewport she could see that the other ship was pulling away from the frigate. Enraged, Euka slammed her hand onto the panel, glaring at the ship as it fled from the capital ships that swarmed back around the frigate.

Through whatever magic that the Mage-born wielded, the commander had whisked his forces away, effetely escaping from the ship without even the need for the ship to actually dock or board the frigate.

The Emperor and her own master were not going to be pleased with this outcome, but Euka had no other choice but to dispatch some of their forces to chase the specific pirate and rebel ships while they proceeded on with their assigned task. They had a deadline to meet, and things would only get worse if they failed to arrive at the Imperial Palace late on top of being attacked and losing part of the cargo.

She would have to take her punishment for this failure, but she would not allow it to grow greater, or spill over onto those who fought and died to keep it from the Rebels hands, even if they also failed.

Grudgingly, she called off the pursuit, urging the small fleet back into formation and to prepare for lightspeed onward to their destination. Let the rebels have this small victory, she would hunt them all down soon enough, if she was given the opportunity to walk away from the Palace under her own will.

Even with her commitment set and her course plotted, the sight of the Imperial Palace made a spark of fear shoot through the Dark Adept, thoughts of the displeasure she was about to face dancing through her mind with all the grace of a rampaging beast.

The aura of the Emperor's will literally wafted out of the building, and Euka knew from reports that even non-Force Sensitives could feel it at times, particularly when the Emperor was in a foul mood. As the ship touched down and the aura enveloped them, she certainly hoped that this was not the case now.

A flock of royal guards approached the ship as she hesitantly descended the ramp, watching as they began the automated process of unloading the frigates cargo, and one of the guards turned toward her. "His Majesty requests your presence within…" the muffled, almost electronic voice said, and Euka knew that her fears were realized. But she also knew she had little choice but to go with the powerful guard.

"I live to serve his pleasure," she responded, and allowed herself to be escorted inside the palace. In the case that she survived, however, she did do as her master had bid her, and paid close attention to the state of the Palace, with its dark lighting and exquisite items placed tastefully along the entry levels.

She was escorted to a lift and to her shock and surprise, send downward into the center of the Temple. Very few had seen the heart of the Imperial residence; neither had any even seen the Emperor's personal chambers, if they even existed.

But it seemed that she was being brought directly to such a place, as the guards were unhesitant in their march toward a particular place within the Palace, and when they arrived at a barred door, and the guards had to use the Force to unlock, the Dark Adept wondered just what they were entering.

It was no personal chamber, nor was it a dungeon like she had feared. It was a library, or an archive, filled with row after row of holotexts and ancient scrolls from wall to wall, with long tables laid in the center with a myriad of Jedi and Sith Holocrons scattered almost lazily across them.

A treasure trove if ever Euka saw one. These must have been like those that she had been guarding, and she wondered fleetingly what the Rebels might have been after if their desire to attack such a strongly guarded ship.

"The Apprentice of Zhar Quelmok, your Majesty…" the guard stated to the empty room, and Euka turned to try and find whom the black robed individual was addressing, when out of the shadows a figure emerged, draped in all black from head to foot, and peering at her with lamp-yellow eyes. Euka was more than surprised at how young the Emperor still appeared, even with the clear signs of age behind the Dark Side infused eyes.

"Ah yes…" he wheezed, sound uncharacteristically like an old man, despite the youthful body, "come my dear, there is much to discuss." He added, turning from the table of holocrons and moving toward the back of the room. Euka hesitated only a moment before gingerly moving around the table and following the Emperor.

"I hear that you encountered a bit of difficulty in delivering my latest shipment of ancient works…" the man said as they walked, and through the fear Euka managed to speak.

"Yes, my Lord. Rebels attacked and stole some of the items, I am not certain as to what though." She said, waiting for the worst.

What she did not expect was the man to start laughing, a cold, almost deflating sound that clearly was not supposed to be coming from so young a body. "The fools that they are... seeking knowledge from me… you did as well as could be expected my dear, and need not fear my wrath. I had already foreseen that the shipment would be attacked, which is why my pet was aboard your ship, making it most difficult for… an old acquaintance, to find what he was looking for…"

Euka could only guess that the elderly Mage-Born was somehow connected to the Emperor, but she said nothing.

"Yes, Severus…" Veneficus said, peering almost lazily into her mind for what she had not expressed, which startled Euka, "He knows of some of my secrets, to be true, but he shall not possess them as well. I had already well seen to that. They wanted a medicine that was stronger than even bacta, and thought that stealing from me would gift them that knowledge. Well… it's of little consequence, they shall not find what they seek in what they took, and all the more, we now have a general location of their little hide-a-way…"

"My Lord?" the Dark Adept asked, unsure whether the man was talking to her directly or not, as the Emperor was listing off to the side, eyes slowly growing unfocused.

"It's nothing, a fleeting vision in the Force…" Veneficus said, waving her concerns away, almost irritated. "You may return to Zhar and report all that you have seen. I am sure that he will be most engaged by the fact that it was I that allowed the Rebels to steal from us, even with their little annoyance of an operative in our ranks forwarding information to them. You may go my dear; I have work to return to…"

And with that the Emperor merely shuffled away, as though Euka was no longer of his concern. The guards appeared, offering to escort the Dark Adept back to her ship, which she knew was a code for her being banished from seeing anything more of the Palace.

At the least she was relieved to have emerged unscathed from the presence of the Emperor, an went back to her ship swiftly, ready to convey all the information she witnessed to her Master, so that they could plan accordingly on what the Emperor was up to and how it might affect them.

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Veneficus sensed the ship carrying Zhar apprentice leave the system, and breathed a sigh of frustration. His small bout of weakness in front of the girl was shameful, and he was disgusted with the mortal shell that he was trapped within.

Since the end of the war he had felt the degrading efforts of the raw power of the Dark Side accelerating, steadily killing his mortal frame, and thereby forcing him to remain close to his source of immortality at all times. Unfortunately, as he needed to protect the knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone and the precious Elixir of Life that sustained him, although the attack on the frigate was something that he was concerned about regarding it.

Reading the manifest, he saw that the tomes regarding Alchemy were the ones reported as missing. It had the hand stamp of Severus Snape all over it, and it was only a streak of fortune that Veneficus had already obliterated most of the clear-cut instructions regarding creating the Elixir of Life, and the Stone itself.

Pulling out a flask of the blood red liquid, Veneficus did not hesitate to pour it down his throat, feeling the shudders and weakness vanish instantly as his body was repaired once more for the countless time.

That need for the Elixir tied directly to why Veneficus had moved the Imperial residence to Coruscant, aside from lording his rule over those who might try to form a resistance out of the old Republic capital. The store of knowledge alone within the former Jedi Temple was sufficient that he would hardly need to leave the edifice for anything.

That being stated, Veneficus turned toward where his personal chambers were hidden, in the same chamber that the old Holocron Vault was when the edifice served his enemies. The Great Holocron, Veneficus' new and permanent companion when he wasn't called away, glimmered to life as he entered, the presence of the Emperor being sufficient to power the device.

A myriad of ancient masters of the Force appeared, each spouting their recorded words as as soon as he was in view of the Holocron, but Veneficus ignored them for the time being. "You're slipping in your control, Lord Veneficus…" said an unwanted voice from behind him as Veneficus moved to walk past the Great Holocron.

Sighing, Veneficus turned to address his old master. The shade of Darth Millennial, spiritually bound to Veneficus along with other masters of the Dark Side, had never left him. Oft times the Force Ghost would just stand by and watch, but then there were times when he would actively intervene and offer his advice, wanted or not, to the current Sith Master.

"I do not recall asking your opinion of the way I am running my Empire…" Veneficus commented back, scowling at the shimmering form of the human mutant.

"I never said it was in regard to your Empire, my old apprentice…" Millennial replied, walking slowly through obstacles that Veneficus had to avoid.

"Then please, enlighten me as to where, in my foresight and great power, I have allowed an opening to happen?" Veneficus retorted, turning toward his private lab, where the Philosopher's Stone awaited with the vat of the restorative potion that he required.

"You are trying to merge the teaching of the Jedi with the power of the Dark Side," Millennial accused, gesturing at the Great Holocron.

"There is more in that device than you even wish to consider," the Emperor retorted, refilling his personal flask from the vat, making sure that he had enough in the event that a sudden attack prevented him from returning to the chamber and healing himself.

Glaring at Millennial, Veneficus regretted including the mutant with the Sith Lords that he forcefully bound to himself. The others had stopped appearing without his summons, but Millennial seemed to find it a joy and privilege to experience the living world time and again by appearing and speaking with his former apprentice.

"And yet you have found nothing to indicate the secrets you desire are within…" Millennial argued, continuing to drive his point onward, which only served to further infuriate the Emperor. Veneficus knew his guards often thought him going insane with his power, speaking to beings that the Emperor alone could see, and in a sense perhaps they were right, but the fact of the matter was that there were secrets of immortality in the Force, aside from the technique of Essence Transfer that the Sith had discovered early on.

Millennial was of the opinion that Veneficus should make use of that technique, possess his apprentice or another and simply move on with a new form and body, but Veneficus was stubborn. He would only surrender this form when he had no other choice, as like it or not, he might have considered himself slightly vain and attached to the body he had been born with.

"It would buy you all the time you needed to find the answer…" Millennial added, knowing what his apprentice was thinking of, which made Veneficus scowl all the deeper.

"I will find the answer before the need arises, and not you, nor the false Darksiders, nor the Jedi Remnant will stop me. I am the sole power in the Galaxy, and I will live forever!" Veneficus raged at the irritating spirit, using the Force to temporarily banish his master from his presence. It would serve for a time, but inevitably Millennial would return and pester him once again.


	5. C4: Answers Lead to Questions

**Ah, once more we come to the time to post another section of the Veneficus Trilogy... I have to say I am pleased that this is the only story where I have yet to be completely harassed by people who do not understand the difference between critic and complaint. Thank you so much for that, it has been a very trying week to say the least in that regard. Still, I appreciate any kind words or thoughtful ideas that you are willing to give me, but as always, chiefly I want you to just read and enjoy the chapter! Until next time! ~F**

 **Chapter Four**

 **Answers Lead to Questions**

Yoda paused as he and Lord Teepo escaped the crystal caverns, looking around for Ist, and knowing that she would not leave the area until they were reunited. The fact that she was not here now highly suggested that neither she, nor the Sith Lord, escaped the cave network.

"I do not sense your Padawan anywhere outside of the caverns," Lord Teepo stated, his voice altered by the mask he wore.

This worried Yoda, as he did not trust in the slightest the black robed figure that had aided them, but there was little he could do. "Still inside, they must be," he said, turning to glance back at the cavern that they had just exited.

But even as he comprehended going back inside to search for his Padawan, more of the figures chasing them appeared from inside the cave, black bladed sabers lit and raised as they charged in to attack.

"Rescuing her will have to wait…" Lord Teepo said, drawing his own blade, "We ought to at least keep this exit clear if they turn up before long."

Nodding in agreement, Yoda pulled his saber from his belt, the green blade casting its glow across the snowy ground. The first combatant to reach them was not prepared when Yoda sprang, aided by the Force, and stuck out with his blade, slaying the figure instantly with a diagonal slash across the chest.

Spinning quickly, the goblin Jedi Master dodged around the next pair, before blocking an overhead strike from the fourth attacker. The clash of sabers behind him gave him the confidence that Lord Teepo was engaged with the other pair, allowing the smaller Jedi Master to focus on the remainder.

A final pair joined the fray, and Yoda was encircled quickly, leaping, ducking, parrying, and doing all he could to prevent the wielders of the Dark Side from attaining their victory over him, knowing that he had to turn the tables soon or even he would be overwhelmed by their numbers alone.

Landing heavily in the midst of them, Yoda instinctually thrust his arms out, allowing the Force to pour through him into a powerful wave of telekinetic energy, throwing his assailants to the ground around him.

Through the connection that all Masters shared with their Padawans, he felt a call, a worried note at the energy he had projected, and knew that Ist was coming to help him at that moment, but for how long he'd need to hold out, he was not certain.

The combatants were rising once more, and Yoda leapt past them, preventing the darksiders from surrounding him once more, and raised his blade defensively. He would fight on, and wait for his Padawan to rejoin them.

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Groaning at the sudden return to consciousness, Ist stirred. The clash of sabers snapped her to full battle awareness however, and she leapt to her feet in pitch blackness. How far they had fallen, she did not know, but aside from the twin crimson blades, and three of the black weapons, which still glowed with small outlines of white, she knew that they would finish the Sith quickly and come for her next.

Her yellow blade snapped to life in her hand, illuminating the rubble that had partially buried her. Ist staggered quickly to her feet, darting forward to aide her temporary ally.

"What kept you?" the Sith Lord demanded, even as he kicked one of the black robed figures away and spun toward her, but there was no time for Ist to reply, as one of the remaining figured turned to her.

Raising her saber in a high guard, she faced off against her opponent, waiting for the foolishly trained adept to make his move. He lunged, and she slid back out of range, before darting forward again to strike hard at the figure's torso, spinning off the hasty counter and dropping the point of her blade to impale the lower point of the being legs, which cause the figure to howl in pain.

"No reason, just the floor suddenly giving out on me," she replied after a few more back and forth blows with her opponent, and she could sense the amusement in the Force around the Sith Lord, although whether he was enjoying the combat or her remark was uncertain.

"Yes, well, I hadn't planned on that…" he said after a moment, in the midst of strangling the life from another of his opponents with the Force. It was an affront to all Ist stood for, but against an enemy that sought to kill, she knew that they could not be spared.

Dropping all pretence, he unleashed her skill with the saber upon her opponent, the yellow blade becoming a blur of movement as it struck with extreme precision at each of the figure's vital points. Despite the black blade rushing to meet every slash and thrust, she was too fast, and found the chest exposed, driving her blade deeply through where she'd expect her opponent's heart to be, slaying the figure instantly.

Together the pair turned on their final opponent, who had little time to summon one of his ally's fallen weapons before Sith and Jedi were upon him. Between their well timed attacks, the other figure stood little chance. But it was indeed the Sith who went for the first and swiftest kill, slamming the hilt of his overlong weapon into the facemask that the being wore, before deftly spinning and bisecting their opponent in two.

Silence fell after the creature fell to the ground, aside from the stead hum of their blades, now uninterrupted by swift movement or clashing, and the pair of Force users quickly accessed the situation.

"There's a passage ahead," the Sith stated, gesturing at the only exit to the place they had fallen to, "I suggest we move quickly and find the correct path out of these caves. Your Masters may need assistance if the leader of these Darksiders returns…"

"So they're really not affiliated with you or your Emperor?" Ist asked, even as they started quickly down the passage, not running for fear of not seeing a cliff before they were over the edge.

"No, I've never seen nor heard of a black lightsaber before in all the Empire, and these Adepts lack the training of ours. They are weak and unorganized…" the Sith replied with pride.

They pressed on in silence for a while, Ist occasionally taking a crystal from the crystalline walls to add to the sizeable collection that she had amassed.

"If I might ask, what is the purpose of a pair of Jedi Knights coming all the way out to Ilum," the Sith commented, peering at her from under his black hood.

Ist said nothing, staring back with annoyance, as though the Sith thought she would actually give him that information. "I thought you wouldn't say, but it's of little matter." He said after a moment with a shrug. "I can guess your purpose here without you telling me… The Order survived the destruction of their temple, that is clear, and you are acquiring more crystals for future Jedi Knights. In addition, whether it was merely you following your Jedi Lord or investigating the same thing that my Master sensed, you were here to find those other Darksiders, and be apprised of the new threat to the Galaxy…"

Ist was surprised at how blatantly obvious their motives had been, but she refused to give the Sith the satisfaction of seeing her react. They arrived at another split in the passage, and Ist wondered where they ought to go.

"These caves go on for miles in every direction," the Sith commented, shining his red blade down one of the passages, "if we're not careful, we could be lost forever…"

The slight jab was irritating, but Ist ignored the figure. Kneeling, she stretched out with the Force, trying to locate her Master and see if his position offered any insight on where they must go.

"Good, my young Jedi friend, trust in the Force, let its guidance flow through you…" the Sith said, all trace of sarcasm gone as he genuinely urged her on, as though offering her advice as a wise Master.

Even as she sank into the Force, Ist felt a pull through the bond of Master and Padawan, even as an enormous pulse of Force energy rippled from above. "They're fighting the rest of them," she said aloud, sensing the Force like a sonar ripple echoing through the caverns, showing her the way to go. "I see the path we need to take to reach them.

"Good, young Jedi, now let's go before your friends are destroyed…" the Sith Lord said, gesturing for her to hurry.

Rising quickly, Ist dashed for the left hand passage, where she could feel the Force guiding her to run, and caring little of the Sith could keep up with her as she ran for the exit, and her Master.

She was surprised therefore, when at the last section, their progress was stopped by a thick wall of ice that covered the last passage before the exit.

The Sith lashed out at the wall with his saber, scoring deep marks in the ice, but it was too thick and the water just pooled on the cave floor.

Feeling the surface of the wall, Ist knew that it had formed over countless years, and there was not going to be an easy way to break it with the Force or by any other means. Yet the Force was determined that this route was the only way back to her Master.

"We need to find another route…" the Sith said, starting to go back.

"This is no other way around," Ist said, concentrating hard on the ice, but the formation was near perfect, with no flaws in the ice particles for her to manipulate with the Force.

"It'll take too long to cut through it, your friends will be dead by the time we finish…" the Sith said, turning to her.

"I refuse to accept that…" she said, still struggling to find a weakness in the ice before them.

"Well… there is always another option…" the Sith added, almost commenting as he sat on a protruding rock near to the wall. Ist glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.

"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities, quite a number of which could easily save your friends, it would take the pair of us to shatter this ice wall, but it could be done…" the figure said seductively.

Ist narrowed her eyes, sensing the power that the Darksider was offering, and how it could very well be the means to free themselves and save her Master. But at the same time… if that was true, why would the Sith be so casual about their circumstance.

"You're lying," she said, turning away from the darkness he offered. "You have the means to free us all along, and are simply using this opportunity to take advantage of me."

"Perhaps I am," the Sith said, withdrawing explosives from his robes, "or perhaps I am speaking of a future event that will be completely different… in any case I suggest you back away while I destroy this ice, we wouldn't want the floor to collapse under us again."

She did so, still wary of the implications that the Sith made, as he quickly set the charges and backed to a safe distance.

With a tremendous blast, the ice wall shattered into pieces as the explosives detonated. Knowing the possibility that the floor might cave beneath them from the force of the blast, Ist darted around the corner they had hid themselves behind, leaping through the haze of mist that the explosives had generated.

The entrance was not far from them now, and Ist dashed forward as swiftly as she could, her blade up and ready as the light from outside grew closer. Within steps of exiting the clash of lightsabers rang out true and clear, and Ist knew that they had arrived in time.

Leaping out of the cavernous entrance, Ist attacked the nearest black saber wielder, catching the figure off guard as they were approaching her master with murderous intent.

A deft upward cut severed the figure's arm at the elbow, and Ist spun, kicking the figure to the ground in a heap as Master Yoda was able to then focus all his skill in Ataru upon the last figure against him, spinning out of the way of a wide swing and cutting the aggressor down.

The Sith Lord appeared from the tunnel as well, leaping with his saberstaff activated to the aid of Lord Teepo, together, the three Jedi and one Sith made quick word of the remaining figures, leaving only the one Ist had wounded alive.

The crimson blade wielder started toward the fallen figure, raising his blade to finish him, but Ist acted, throwing a blast of telekinesis to topple the Sith Lord out of the way, "We need him alive if we are to learn anything about what is going on here," she demanded, even as she felt the waves of hatred wafting from the Sith Lord.

He rose slowly, and for a moment she wondered if he would attack her as well, but the moment passed and he clipped his saber to his belt and folded his arms in front of him. "Then make him talk… show me that our time is not better served leaving…"

Lord Teepo took that moment to march over to the fallen foe, and remove the hood obscuring the man's face. The human male was emaciated, eyes and face ripe with Dark Side corruption. But the worst part was his eyes, nearly black with only a ring of red for an iris as he glared back at them in pain and anger.

"You will tell us whom your serve," the Jedi Lord demanded, and even Ist could feel the weight of the Force behind his words, battering at the weakened human's mental defenses.

The man thrashed and flailed on the ground, but in the end was unable to resist the command so powerfully delivered and enforced by the will of Lord Teepo, "My demise accomplishes nothing, Jee'dai! My Master will have you all… Skarok-Nur shall rule the Galaxy, as he was ever intended to. Long live the true Sith Empire!"

The Sith seemed to be angered at the dying human's ravings, and before any of the Jedi could stop him, reached out with a hand. A dry snapping sound interrupted the shouts of the man Lord Teepo was interrogating, and he fell dead at their feet.

The three Jedi turned, hands on saber hilts, to face off against the Sith Lord, but he was already leaving, making his way toward the open tundra, "Do what you will Jedi, I have no further interest in you… my Master will want to know of the resurgence of these… others… I would take care to not cross them too easily, until we find and stamp them out completely…" he said, dismissing the threat of their retaliation as though it were nothing.

They watched as he disappeared down into the ice plains below, before finally turning to speak among themselves.

"Trust him, we cannot…" Master Yoda began, and Ist nodded.

"While that may be true, he hasn't learned anything about our business here, or at least nothing that he can relay back to his master…" Lord Teepo added, but Ist hesitated.

The two greater Jedi sensed her uncertainly, and turned to her at once, "He already told me that didn't need to figure out information about why we were here, as he noticed it all on his own…" Ist said, "Still… I think we can trust him in this one instance…"

She quickly recapped what had happened since they split up. "I suspect that he had his own plans that run contrary to the Emperor, and having us around, while his enemy as well, is more beneficial as a potential chip to use against his master…"

"All the more reason that we need to leave this place and return to Sanctuary as quickly as possible," Lord Teepo surmised. "You've done well, resisting the temptation of the Dark Side, Padawan, even though you knew our lives were on the line."

"Yes," Yoda added, "strong you have grown, but time we lack to remain any longer. Leave we must…"

"Perhaps there will be others with more information about this Skarok-Nur waiting for us back at Sanctuary." Ist wondered aloud as they traveled swiftly back to the ship.

"It may not be so," Lord Teepo replied remorsefully, "as the majority of our knowledge on the Sith is ancient at best, and was part of the most protected portions of the Archive in the Coruscant Temple…"

"So restricting our ability to act once more, the Emperor is," Yoda explained.

Ist pondered that in silence as the two Masters prepped their ship to leave Ilum. There was another portion of the Archive that had been hidden by Grandmaster Coven, but Ist was under solemn duty to protect that in case of only the most gravest of need, or once the Temple was theirs again and the Sith overthrown once more. With each passing day of this new era, it was growing more and more apparent that they might need to recover that data for their own survival, let alone the safety of the Galaxy.

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Fury glared down at the supposedly peaceful world of Alderaan, the hate for these sorts of missions swelling within him. Even though there was no direct cause linking the rioting in the surrounding systems to the peaceful world, there were protests being held on the planet toward the Emperor's rule, and Fury knew that making an example of these would cut the wind from the sails of the other, more militaristic movements.

Personally however, he hoped a few would be spurred to greater acts of violence, so that he was given the authority to exterminate them world by world, and work toward sating his bloodlust on their warriors.

Without the Jedi to match his skill against, he had to make do with what was available. The lumbering form behind him shifted slightly, making all the officers on the bridge tense. The massive troll, who true name was unpronounceable to human tongues and Fury had gone to calling Calamity, was looking around at all the new scenery with wide, curious eyes.

Despite his size, Fury had learned that the beast was actually still very young, and thoroughly inexperienced in aspects of his own heritage, let alone anything else that normally wouldn't have been plausible for it to encounter.

While the beast had been able to quickly learn to understand the basic speech of most of the galaxy, it seemed that its own vocal cords were unable to create the vowels and syllables needed to communicate his own desires and needs effectively.

Luckily, droids were more than capable of being programmed to understand his own speech, and translate it for others to listen, even if it gave off a sense of weakness that the brute's form easily overcompensated for.

"Cal, we shall go down and deal with these fools ourselves," Fury stated, turning to go and find a shuttle for the pair of Force Adepts.

The beast rumbled a response, and the droid currently paired with him, almost running to keep up with their pace, translated, "Yes, Master…"

Fury smirked to himself as they walked in silence down to the hangar. There had been a very short amount of time for him to actually begin the training of the troll creature, but for what it was worth the beast had a surprisingly keen mind for new information, and picked up the techniques of saber combat quick enough.

The club sized saber it wielded granted would do more than intimidate any opponent that dared to cross Calamity. It had actually come as a shock to Fury when the Troll expressed enough affinity for the Force to build it so quickly, even if the design was rather crude and inherent of the beast's past.

Still, all progress was pleasing to the Marauder, and he hoped to see what the Troll had taken away from their few lessons so far, as they exterminated the protesters here and cause the rabble to disperse.

Formal troops and armies were not permitted upon the surface of Aldaraan, as per their treaty with the Empire in exchange for their loyalty, but they could not deny the Force users that policed the Empire, and Fury came with authority from the Emperor himself, which would overrule any mandate that was in place preventing them from landing.

It was no surprise though to Fury, from his intelligence he had gathered about the planet's history with the Sith, that the source of the protests was near to the House of Organa, which had backed the Republic throughout its long history.

Even as their shuttle landed and Fury started for the ramp however, he sensed something out of place. There was a Force user in the midst of the area, although there was no other Force users that ought to have been on world, especially for the level of darkness that the being gave off.

"What is it master?" the droid said, speaking for Calamity as the troll looked concernedly out at the crowd, "I sense something else out there…"

"Yes," Fury acknowledged, "something very wrong is here, we need to be careful in dealing with these protesters, someone is driving them to do this, and they are strong in the Dark Side…"

Approaching the rabble, which had indeed turned their sights on the shuttle bearing the insignia of the Empire, Fury felt their fear as he and the massive being came into view. Yet there was more swirling in their emotions, some form of control or underlying anger that was not their own.

"Interesting," he said to himself, amid their shouts and chants about the return of democracy. "Silence them apprentice," he stated, hushing the droid from translating as the troll roared loudly, causing the crowd to quake in fear at the beat's strength and power.

"Your protests are ineffective," Fury said in the sudden silence, "the Emperor has issued the decree that you will cease this war mongering, or you will be put down with all the power that the Empire commands."

"War cannot come on Aldaraan!" someone shouted, and the chants started up again. Someone in the crowd attempted to throw something at Fury, but he caught it with the Force, crushing the ceramic pot that had flew at him.

The crowd froze, realizing who or what they were dealing with, and Fury sighed, "Then I guess you're lives are forfeit, for the safety and security of the Empire…" he said, slowly grinning as his blades came to life in his hands.

"Kill them, and find the leader!" he ordered his apprentice, and the massive crimson beam of the lightclub erupted to life, causing fear to overtake the crowd, and screaming they tried to scatter, even as Fury waded into their midst, slaughtering those closest and trying to seek out the source of the Dark Side aura.

Even as the mob dispersed, many being trampled and killed by the two Marauders, Fury saw in the frightened crowd a lone figure that was enveloped in a calmness that was shocking out of place with the others fleeing in all directions.

Leaping high, Fury dove at the figure, momentarily hoping that it turned out to be a rogue Jedi that survived the purge that the Emperor initiated, and nearly smiled when the figure whirled to face him and the blaze of a lightsaber erupted to block his attack.

What gave him pause however, was the jet black coloration of the blade blocking his twin crimson blades. The face of the figure was shrouded in the hood of their cloak, but the glowing red eyes were starling different and unnatural.

"Well, what have we here…" the figured said, voice almost a hiss in softness, "the false Emperor's enforcers have come at last…" the figure laughed coldly, shoving Fury back and bringing his saber to bear, surprising the Marauder with the sudden offensive.

Granted, the figure had little chance to maintain that system of attack, once Fury adjusted and brought his pair of weapons fully to bear. By alternating his attacks, striking high, low, then to the middle, kicking at the figures legs, he thoroughly succeeded in driving the other combatant as he pleased.

Ironically, the elation he felt initially at the sight of a foreign Force user ebbed rather quickly, as the lack of skill that was displayed. The figured seemed to have a natural talent with the persuasive power of the Force, but other talents, especially in those that Fury found to be of greatest worth such as lightsaber skill were extremely lacking.

Flipping over the figure's head and striking backward, Fury forced his opponent back toward Calamity, who advanced with his saber held overhead with both massive hands. Fury could see it happen, but most disappointedly, the other fighter did not.

So when Fury suddenly leapt backward, out of range of his apprentice's oncoming wide attack, the unknown figure was confused, unable to act just as the troll struck, carving the figure in two with the raw strength behind his strike.

The black bladed saber clattered to the ground, rolling to Fury's foot as each half of the bisected figure fell apart before him.

"Well done, my apprentice…" he said, scooping up the saber and examining it. He noted that it seemed rather uniform and unoriginal in design. Clearly not a personalized make like the Jedi or the Dark Adepts of the Empire created.

The troll just looked at him, and Fury guessed that he had quickly learned that no one could understand him unless the droid was near, so he had to guess at what the creature was thinking.

"We need to make sure that the Dark Council and the Emperor learn of this," Fury explained, holding up the weapon, "we are finished here, the Imperial Navy can mop up the others that were part of this group, but we have a larger mission to take care of. Come…"

Turning toward the shuttle, Fury sent a coded message to the waiting capital ship in orbit to prepare to return to Dromund Kaas. The Supreme Prophet had the best ability to send messages to the Emperor, locked away in his palace at the heart of the Galaxy, and Fury had learned to trust Feyd to get what was needed accomplished when the safety of the Empire was on the line.

And if there were rogue Darksiders on the loose, then it would register as a crisis.

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Lord Berethon was pleased to hear that Yoda and Ist had survived what they had found on the planet Ilum. They, along with Lord Teepo were still traveling back to Hoth to give a full report regarding what they learned, but it warmed the remaining Council Member's heart that they had rescued his fellow Lord, even if they lost so many to this new foreign force that seemed even darker and more dangerous than the Sith had been before their rise to power.

Commander Granger had been just as enthused to learn of the Jedi's safety, but the pair of them was equally interested as the group that had gone with Severus to attack the Imperial convoy returned victorious.

Waiting next to the highly intelligent woman in his hover chair, the Jedi Master watched silently as the resistance troopers cheered as their illustrious heroes returned from their first major blow against the power of the Emperor. Granted, there were many injured and in serious need for medical attention, but they had accomplished their goal, and proved that the operative Shade was indeed on their side.

While the unknown being's loyalty had indeed been proven, both Berethon and Commander Granger had their reservations. They would uphold their end of the bargain, and include the operative in more of their important decisions in keeping the fight going against the Empire.

"We are pleased that you've returned safely," Ms. Granger said as Severus approached them, looking rather tried and less dour than he normally carried himself.

"Yes, and I hope to say not without the prize we sought…" the Potion Master said, patting the extended bag at his waist, indicating that he had plundered knowledge from the transport, which was the goal that they had discussed.

"Well, we applaud your success, and hope that you indeed found what you were looking for," Berethon said, adding his two credits to the triumphal return of their group.

The man nodded in thanks, before turning to disappear back to his personal labs and highly likely get straight to work with whatever he had managed to liberate from the Emperor's trove of treasures.

"Well, now that we know they are all safe, and on their way home," Commander Granger said, referencing the returning Jedi, "We ought to make sure that Filius has shaken off his pursues and is on his way back to base as well, so we can plan our next move with all the information we've gathered…"

"I agree," Berethon said, turning his chair to follow as the former Magi-Tech director as they retraced their way back to the central communication room of their slowly expanding base. It was slow, partially due to the difficulty in making sure that the ice tunnels that they formed under the surface of the planet were perfectly safe to use and structurally sound, and in the creeping need as they carefully selected more and more rebel factions to join them on world.

They had far more operatives and allies that, like the unknown entity of Shade, had no idea where their centralized base lay, and somehow that was safer for them as a cohesive unit that way. Still, they had means to bring people closer, primarily through contact with their largest fleet that had survived the war.

When they reached the communication array, Granger dismissed the current workers to go and take a short break, and carefully encrypted their outgoing channel as they searched for the signal that would affix to the _Pursuit of Justice_ and Commander Flitwick.

"This is the _Pursuit of Justice_ ," said the red-headed admiral, still very young in comparison to others that once held the rank that he did, but he was trusted, and a keen strategist, so Berethon held his criticism on the lad's age.

"Hello Ronald, can you get Professor Flitwick for us," Director Granger requested, and the boy smirked slightly at the reorganization from their leader. Within a few moments the diminutive Commander appeared.

"Ah, Ms. Granger, Lord Berethon, how good of you to call on us. I have good news; the fuel, while not as much as we had hoped, is of a far better quality than we had been promised. We have just shaken off the pursuing fleets of the Empire, and will be returning shortly to _Sanctuary_."

"Excellent," Granger replied, "we have several others returning from their respective missions, and we plan to have a long council to pool our new knowledge and plan ahead to deal with our next move again the Empire."

"Joyous, we will make all haste to return…" Flitwick said, and Granger closed the communication.

"I have some concepts to finish before they return, so I will leave you for now," Granger stated, and the Jedi Lord nodded in respect as she departed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus, only once sealed within his own lab, gingerly took every tome that he had liberated from the Emperor's transport. He had taken a bit of time to peruse them on the trip back, but he had not as of yet found what he sought in the books.

Several cauldrons were quickly set up and boiling water added to them. He wished to start on some potions from the few tomes that he had gone through and found interesting, but by and large Severus was content to sit down in his large chair and slowly search through the others, carefully translating the various languages with magic to a more readable script.

The one he had finally arrived at, the book that he had been led to in the midst of escaping the raging ruby cobra on the ship, seemed to be leading toward a concise idea of the creation of a Philosopher's stone.

But once he arrived tentatively to the page where the actual topic ought to have begun in detail, Severus' eyes widened. Bold as brass, over the torn out and shredded pages that ought to have been their salvation and medical advancement were written the words: ' _Only I Shall Live Forever – V_ '

The phrase sent shuddered through Severus' body, as it was something directly coined from Voldemort, but the script was not the spindle-like writing of the former Dark Lord, but the bold hand that Severus recalled from Potter himself, now much more elegant and careful as the Sith Lord reveled in his supposed triumph over his foes.

Rage roared through him, and Severus nearly threw the ancient book to the ground, only stopping himself by the sheer demands of preserving such a piece of magical history, regardless of the defilement that had already stolen its most useful secret.

"You might win this one round, you dark madman," Severus said to the empty room, "but I will discover a means to defeat the death and ruin that you deal so casually to the rest of the Galaxy."

Settling back down and pouring himself something strong to drink for his nerves, a darker idea started to form in the Potions Master's mind. If he could not reproduce the Elixir of Life, perhaps he could work on something to the effect of the opposite, and create a more powerful weapon to use against the Empire's fanatical soldiers and wreck havoc among the Imperial Army and Navy, shaking the root of the connection between the Dark Side overlords and their oppressed people.

A plague that slaughtered thousands and millions of their enemies' fighters might be sufficient for those standing against them to realize the folly of supporting their tyrants.

But… even as he thought of it, Severus knew that it was not the way they ought to proceed. The Empire declared them as terrorists and outlaws, and if he presented such a frightfully devastating weapon, then they would be sinking to meet the title that they were thusly given. They had to inspire the people to rise up, not strike fear into them to hide behind their Sith Masters.

Cursing their plight aloud, Severus turned slowly, taking in the room around him as his mind whirled for some sort of answer. All means created by his own magic: potions, poisons, cures, antidotes… he was a healer, a giver of life, but he could take it just as well with the same methods… with enough raw magical force they ought to be able to demolish entire star ships with a chant of words and their wands, but the Emperor had devastated the races of wizards to near extinction. So few remained, aside from… aside…

And his eyes snapped to focus as he realized what he could do to end all of this madness. There were only a scant handful of wizarding people left in the Galaxy, to their knowledge. He had to delve deeply and find out what gave them their magic, and perhaps, once that was done, he could experiment on a weapon that would only target them, the Emperor and his cloned guards of the late Blaise Zabini…

A targeted weapon that would negate all magic used to defend against it, one that would trump even the restorative powers of the Philosopher's Stone. Veneficus might have the ultimate cure, but Severus was now set to find and develop the ultimate plague, one that would leave all the other innocents in the Empire alive but kill that man that began it all.

"Oh Lily, what evil has befallen this Galaxy," Severus mourned, thinking of the fiery haired youth that he had loved so much, even as he swept all his other projects aside, their use now irrelevant to him as he focused on his new and deadly goal. "Your son, the one I swore to protect against even my own will, is now the very evil that you fought to destroy. I will finish what was started, and silence this evil in your name."

Even as he set to work, extracting some of his own blood to analyze, his thoughts turned even more mournful and weary. "Perhaps, if there is some sort of afterlife, as you claimed," he said, imagining the ghost of his lost love in the room with him, strengthening him with her presence, "perhaps he will find you there, and you will free his soul of this evil that corrupts him… and perhaps mine as well."

The image in his mind dissipated, and Severus slowly returned to the sad reality that he lived in his elder years. A vial of crimson in his hand, he knew where he had to go for a perfect test. The Jedi alone had the devices to examine blood down to its molecular level, in their search for the counts of the Force conducting organisms that gave them their power.

If he wanted to know the full ends of this madness, there was no corner of the Galaxy that he could, or indeed would, leave untouched to discover a means of ending the Emperor's reign.

That he swore, even as he departed his now relatively trashed lab and sprinted as fast as his aged body would allow toward the Jedi Enclave, where he would find in their slowly restoring archive the testing equipment he desired.

With luck, and perhaps a bit more than luck, he would find the secret quickly, and be able to test solutions that would destroy the very blood within a wizard, without being able to be affected by outside magic whatsoever. Only then would he be satisfied in presenting it for weaponizing.


	6. C5: A New Enemy

**So nice to be home from school once more, despite the triple digit heat... Many thanks to those who reviewed chapter four, and please enjoy the next chapter. ~F**

 **Chapter Five**

 **A New Enemy**

Diábolis kneeled as the communication on his ship came to life, "My Master, I have done as you commanded, and have found a great disturbance here on Ilum…"

"The Jedi?" Veneficus asked, his strangely youthful, yet wizened face looking more grotesque in the shimmering blue of the hologram.

"No, my Lord, other wielders of the Dark Side," Diábolis lied quickly, sprinkling the facts of the matter around the lie to better shroud it from his Master. The continuation of the Jedi must be kept secret from him as long as possible. "They wielded blades of blackness, and were harvesting and draining the crystals of the former Jedi caves of their connection to the Living Force…"

"Are you sure of this?" the Sith Master demanded softly, and if the Devaronian wasn't mistaken, his master seemed genuinely frightened at the concept.

"Yes, my Master, I am sure of it, I saw them doing this myself." He affirmed.

"It is as I had feared, then…" Veneficus said, turning to the side to gaze into the future. "Some fool found the secret tomb of Skarok-Nur, and released the man and his armies of ancient Sith warriors… we face a threat now even greater than the Jedi and the whole of the Republic combined, if we do not act quickly…"

"What are you commands then, my Master?" Diábolis requested, knowing that as the Emperor's apprentice, he would be chief in the forefront of this coming conflict.

"We must discover where they are hiding, and what they plan." Veneficus ordered, "I can sense that they wish to kill me, and take control on my Empire for themselves, but they know not of what strength we have acquired in the time they've slumbered. They likely will attempt to distract us by destabilizing our Empire's order and unity, as well as bolstering our enemies with their manipulations and lies…"

"They are true Sith then?" Diábolis asked, curious.

"Of an older line, bastardized from the likes of Ludo Kreesh and others who did not rise to supreme power, as the line of Emperors had…" Veneficus described.

The yellow eyes of the Emperor turned from Diábolis, as though listening to another communicating with him, but the Apprentice heard nothing.

"He will be most cautious, probably retreating to some uninhabited world while his forces drum up some smattering of an army to face against us, little though it would do for him to try. On the field of battle he cannot amass the numbers to face us, yet I sense another plan in the making…"

The Sith Master trailed off, before turning quickly to the side as an alarm blared from his side of the communication. "Assassination… so I see he has begun his move already… scour the Empire my apprentice, and find where they are located. Use whatever resource is needed in your hunt, but make sure that none of our citizens are the wiser for it, I will handle this incursion, myself…"

The communication abruptly ended and the Emperor departed, leaving Diábolis alone in his ship wondering how best to proceed.

At least the Emperor had not questioned him on his progress with seeking out the remaining Jedi, although that was supposed to be Diábolis' main goal throughout his many missions. And the Apprentice was growing most infuriated that he was getting so very much to do as of late, and regardless of how he handled each of his missions, there was not much in the shape of praise or reprieve from his master.

It was a clear sign if there was any, and Diábolis knew that he had to continue ramping up his efforts to weaken the Sith Master's position, in order to open him up for the eventual defeat that the Devaronian had planned for him.

Turning his ship toward Dromund Kaas, Diábolis knew that Supreme Prophet Feyd would have some potential clues to help him on his way, as the shrewd man tended to have an ear to the pulse of the Empire as a whole more often than not.

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Veneficus did not wait for the communications to close before leaving his apprentice, walking swiftly to the only location worthy of his defense, the Holocron Vault.

In the slim likelihood that the assassins were planning to steal from him instead of slay him, he would deny their advance and slaughter them all with the sheer wrath of the Dark Side.

Naturally, the Arcanamach would be swarming to counter the influx of intruders in the palace, but the Emperor quickly foresaw that he would be facing this attempt to slay him head on, regardless of the efforts of his guards.

Sighing as he arrived outside the sealed and warded room that housed all that mattered to him in the Galaxy, Veneficus felt the cool trickle of foreign Force signatures in the room with him, stealthily moving steadily nearer to him.

"My apprentice's warriors are all around you," the spirit of Ludo Kreesh said, the Force Spirit bound to obey the current Emperor through the ancient Dark Side techniques that Veneficus had performed long ago.

"I sense your presence, assassins…" Veneficus said aloud, not bothering to acknowledge the Force Ghost that he alone could see or hear. "Shall I hunt and destroy you myself, or are you going to make this go as quickly as possible, rushing headlong to your deaths?"

He didn't expect them to respond verbally, and therefore was not surprised when instead they froze, clearly stuck with indecisiveness on whether to attack their target or retreat and try again at another opportunity.

Rolling his eyes tiredly, Veneficus raised a hand, "Let me make this easier for you to decide…" he said, smirking as he wrenched one of the assassin from their high perch with the Force, throwing the fool like a ragdoll across the wide, empty archive, and slamming them into the ground, holding the figure there with force of will alone.

That did the trick at last. Five other cloaked figured leapt down from various locations, black bladed sabers lighting in order to rush the Neo-Sith Emperor and presumably slay him while he was unarmed and defenseless, or so Veneficus supposed they thought.

Naturally, a Master of the Dark Side of the Force was never without weapons, and readily calling upon the dark powers he conjured torrents of violet lightning in a wide arc at them all. The explosive blast knocked back three of the poor excuses for assassins, while the others staggered as they hastily raised their defenses to ward off the onslaught.

Laughing manically, Veneficus let his hands fall to his sides, the sabers he kept on his person sliding into his hands with ease. The assassins rose to their feet, readying themselves as twin crimson blades flared to life.

Spinning the twin blades slowly around him, Veneficus allowed himself to draw upon the fear of his foes, and suddenly lunged forward into their midst, allowing them to surround him so easily, spinning in a slow circle and allowing their pitiful attacks to dance harmlessly off his blades and the blood red energy span rapidly in circles of defense.

Channeling the Force through both hands, he pushed outward, throwing them all away and separating his victims from their allies. Turning with a deafening crack, he shot through the realm that lay between realities, appearing behind one of the more hearty assassins that did not fall so easily.

The shock that ran through the Force as he impaled the figure with both blades was delicious, before Veneficus teleported away once more, so quickly that the others did not see his subtle attack.

The others started to converge on him, but the Sith Lord would not allow them to completely surround him again, as exciting that the first few moments had been for him. It had been far too long since he himself had allowed the Dark Side to flow through him in the traditional battle lust and actually engage in full out battle.

Charging the pair that was slowest to recover from his wave of telekinesis, Veneficus flipped forward over ones hasty counterattack, slamming a saber down on the raised defense of the second, planting a boot directly on the fool who had attacked him, and leveraging all his weight onto the figure, relishing the grind of bone and flesh beneath him as the shoulder and collar bones gave way, he himself launching off with aid of the Force to land behind the pair.

The one with a broken shoulder crumbled screaming, even as his ally turned only to encounter the Sith Emperor's blade in his face. Veneficus felt nothing as the figure died a gruesome death. There was no satisfaction anymore with these kills, it was just too easy. Almost too easy…

Turning to look at the others coming at him, weapons raised and spinning to build momentum to attack, he sheathed one saber to free his hand, and gestured. The Force obeyed willingly, slamming the other three into the wall. Wrenching them back and causing their weapons to clatter from each of their hands, Veneficus slammed them down into the ground at his feet, next to their wounded fellow and held them there with the Force.

"Now, as this pathetic attempt to kill me was clearly a waste of effort and time," he started slowly, relishing their pain and fear more than anything else, "You will tell me the real purpose for this attack on my palace…"

For a long while they said nothing, and Veneficus released a torrent of lightning on them, encouraging screams to pierce the silence.

Only at that time did his royal guard arrive, doors all around the central room slamming open as they charged to the defense of their Master, far too late, but at least loyally serving.

"Your Majesty!" one cried, thinking that he was still in danger, only to pause at a respectful distance when he saw the Dark Lord of the Sith had more than handled his own.

"You will tell me what I want to know, or you will all suffer enormous amounts of pain long before I permit you to die," Veneficus said casually, ignoring his guards and their concerns, waiting for one of the four to break under his torment.

Casually, he placed his foot on the broken joint of the most injured one, unleashing glorious wails that echoed off the chamber. These fools were not accustomed to pain, they did not relish it as true Darksiders, and it was folly to even consider that they were worthy of the Sith that sent them.

"What does Skarok-Nur think he will accomplish here while you distract me?" he asked, catching two of the three relatively uninjured ones into the air with the Force, squeezing the life from them slowly. "Speak, and your ends will be far swifter…"

"Ko…Korriban!" one finally managed, and the spirit of Ludo Kreesh stepped from the shadows.

"Of course, my apprentice would seek out my tomb first of all, to see if I left anything for him in its chambers to aid him…" the spirit said.

"Take them to the dungeons and learn all that they will say," Veneficus declared, dropping their pair he held with the Force and allowing his guards to spring forward, "I want a communication channel to High Prophet Quelmok opened immediately…"

"As you command, your Majesty…" the guards replied, hurrying to obey their master.

Veneficus was sure that the tombs had been scoured clean of anything valuable long ago, but if they had the chance to capture or kill the leader of this factional band of Sith lowlife, it would be all the better for him in the long run.

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Supreme Prophet Feyd was not terribly surprised that he received many highly positioned callers asking him to contact the Emperor for them, as he was supposedly the next in charge of the Empire. Little did they know that the Emperor had withdrawn from actively governing his realm for many years now, and that he, Feyd, was in fact the supreme law of the Galaxy whenever his will did not conflict with that posed previously by the Emperor.

So it was with great reluctance that he admitted, when Lord Fury appeared and presented him with a lightsaber of unknown make, which produced a jet black blade when activated, that he would actually need to default to the Emperor's knowledge and understanding to solve the matter.

He was about to make the dreadful call to Coruscant, when another came in, which was odd. Not many in the Empire had right or authority to contact him directly, and of the select few that had that privilege, fewer still actually make use of it. Answering the call quickly, the Supreme Prophet was curious to find Lord Diábolis on the other end, seemingly in his personal ship.

"Supreme Prophet," the sith lord said by way of greeting.

"My Lord," Feyd replied, perfectly hiding his contempt for the true heir of the Empire should Veneficus finally passed away. The only barrier that prevent himself from ascending to truly rule the Empire was this young pup, so arrogant in his knowledge and power, and yet unworthy to be the Emperor's apprentice.

"I have been sent by the Emperor to learn of the Sith Lord Skarok-Nur, and his connections to a group that wield Black Lightsabers. We need to discover where such a group was once located, who they affiliated with, and how powerful they once were." The Sith Lord stated.

"Once were…?" Feyd replied, clenching the saber hilt in his hand that Fury had presented him. "You mean how powerful they still are, surely…"

"Then you are already aware of what is at stake should we fail to find them…" Diábolis stated. "I will be landing at the Imperial Complex soon; I suggest haste so that we can discover the depth of this mystery as swiftly as possible."

The communication shut just as abruptly as it began, and Feyd seethed. How dare that brat, barely more than two decades old, order around one such as he, the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side. But with the weight of the Emperor's wrath waiting if he struck too soon, Feyd knew better than to overplay his hand.

"This is good, is it not, Supreme Prophet?" Fury said from behind him, "If Darth Diábolis is coming and knows more about these foreign invaders, then the mystery behind them is more likely to be quickly solve…"

Feyd did not reply, as the fool wasn't worth his time any longer. Turning from the room, Feyd started to travel toward the extensive library that the palace boasted, even if it was being constantly diminished by the Emperor transferring all the knowledge of the Dark Side to his personal residence on Coruscant.

Fury followed, mercifully in silence as the Supreme Prophet took a lift down to the appropriate level. Bypassing the sentinels that guarded the wealth of knowledge that the Empire sported on the subjects of the Dark Side, Feyd went straight for one of the terminals that would allow him access to search the catalogued tomes and files for any references to Skarok-Nur.

He was not terribly surprised to find little reference to that particular Sith Lord, as Feyd had taken great time in learning all that there was to know regarding various ancient masters of the Dark Side in order to increase his own power and knowledge without the Emperor becoming aware of it.

What he did find; however, was disappointing. Skarok-Nur had the barest of references regarding the Sith Lord Ludo Kreesh, who had challenged Naga Sadow for the right to become Sith Emperor after the death of Marka Ragnos. Apparently after the death of Kreesh, Naga Sadow had every ally and reference of his opponent wiped from the Empire, but Skarok-Nur was never found, disappearing into myth and legend.

From what it seemed that they had discovered, Skarok-Nur had been in long hiding, and finally reemerged for one reason or another, likely to try and wrest control of the Empire from them and establish his own order patterned after the Empires of old.

"A pity," Feyd said, more to himself than Fury, who was still at his side.

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Euka was with her master once more when the communication channel flared to life. They were in Zhar's personal chambers in the Dark Temple of Korriban, which overlooked the Valley of the Dark Lords, when the Emperor himself appeared on the hologram, looking for all intents and purposes, distressed.

"Zhar, there has been a great disturbance in the Empire…" the Emperor began, even as the leader of Korriban rose, along with Euka, to acknowledge their master's presence.

"What sort of disturbance, your majesty?" Zhar responded guardedly, but Euka noted that if the Emperor sensed the tone of her master in addressing him, the other human did not convey it.

"There is a resurgence of old rivals to our power, and they may have infiltrated the caves nearer to the old Sith academy, looking for a tomb that they wish to steal Sith artifacts from. I want you and your apprentice to go personally and see that they are stopped, kill them if you must, but capture them if you can so that we can interrogate them regarding the others of their… group." The Emperor stated, almost seething in his explanation of some faction of renegade Dark Adepts.

"It will be done my Lord, but could we have some more details regarding who or what we are seeking?" Zhar asked.

The Emperor seemed to be on the verge of snarling in response, but controlled himself, "They will be identifiable by their black bladed sabers. Just stop them before they unearth something that might prove to be a threat to us all."

"As you wish, my Lord…" Zhar complied, and the communication from Coruscant ended quickly.

"I don't understand what the fuss is about…" Euka commented as they departed, heading toward the hangar to try and seek out these caves the Emperor mentioned, "How could there be anything in the Galaxy that opposes the Emperor to a degree that he is this concerned?"

"Once one becomes the sole power of a thing," Zhar explained as he took the controls of a small shuttle, "the only thing they fear is losing that power, the Emperor is no different, but on a much larger scale. This is why we are moving so very cautiously. If he were to even suspect that we wished to escape or dethrone any of his power in the slightest, all his attention and sinister killing instinct would be focused upon us, and I doubt that either of us have the knowledge or strength to defeat him."

"All the better to just obey and stay hidden in the shadows then, I suppose," Euka said, somewhat bored.

"I know it is dull, and tiresome to constantly be in the shadow of their malevolence, but patience my apprentice," Zhar chuckled, "so long as we are of use to him, the Emperor will not see fit to dispose of us, and gathering more power to ourselves in the meantime is the best we can do… perhaps in time we will rise to even take command of the Dark Council, which will be an important step toward ruling the Empire. Veneficus won't live forever, regardless of what desires and knowledge of the Dark Side he may have. It has not been discovered in thousands of year, and I doubt that such a secret even exists…"

"You had better be right about this…" Euka said hotly as their shuttle flew over the Valley of the Dark Lords, "I do not wish to waste all my life controlling this dusty tomb-world after you."

Noting the stale and not very subtle threat on his life from the young Iradonian, Zhar chuckled. "Nor do I… but one must do what they can in the meantime…"

As they neared the once ruins of the old Sith academy, which had been turned into a large dormitory for all the adepts and other workers that were maintaining the tombs and training grounds for their warriors, Euka leaned forward, watching the cliffs and ridges around for any sight of movement among the potential cave networks that pockmarked the region.

"How are we supposed to find just one cave in the midst of all… there!" she said, pointing, "Movement in the cliffs, set the ship down, we can pursue them easily."

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Zhar smirked, sensing Euka's growing excitement at the prospect of battle with other Force wielders that wasn't a training situation. Setting the ship down in the nearest open area, Zhar watched as his apprentice darted from the ramp and took off toward the nearest crag that led deep into the mountainous region surrounding the Valley of the Dark Lords, Zhar keeping up only through following her signature in the Force.

The fact that she had so easily spotted the spot they needed to go, and was able to track it perfectly was no surprise to Zhar. While he had indeed been hoping to use the Iradonian as a mere placeholder before Johell was returned to his caring tutelage, he had not selected a fool or untalented apprentice.

It only took a short hike into the narrow cliffs to find what they sought, and Zhar was suitable impressed that the cave was so easy to find. These people that they were hunting were very poor at disguising their presence, the presence of supplies and other tools just strewn about at the entrance.

"This is almost too simple…" Euka said, standing there at the entrance as he arrived.

"I agree," Zhar said, "they must feel very secure in their skill to be this sloppy, so I suggest we ought to proceed with caution."

His apprentice nodded, unclipping her weapon from her belt but not activating it just yet as they proceeded inside. The power of the Dark Side was still heavily present in the cave, and Zhar felt that it was highly likely that there was some sort of tomb in this network, albeit locating it might prove difficult.

Or they would have though it from walking in, but the fact of the matter was that it was more of an issue sneaking around all the foolish workers that were saturating the caves. The fact that they wanted to get into the tomb unseen was the only factor preventing them from just slaughtering all the non-Force sensitive workers that simply served and performed simple labor.

Eventually they navigated their way around to the rearmost part of the cavern, across a deep gorge within the cavern that could only be crossed by a narrow bridge of stone.

Past that point, off to the side, the rock walls changed abruptly to carved and shaped work, and the lingering darkness grew deeper. "We have found the tomb, I believe." Zhar said quietly.

Her eagerness was palpable, even as the High Prophet also drew his weapon. From here on they were in dangerous territory, and all they encountered had to be eliminated. The tomb of a Sith Lord, even one that was of little fame, was still an important historical find for the Empire, and for these fools to be using it for their own power to overthrow the Emperor was unacceptable, at least as the Empire collectively would say.

Unsurprisingly there were actual guards waiting in the first chamber of the tomb, and both Zhar and Euka glanced at each other for the barest of moments before silently agreeing that it was time to attack.

At once three crimson blades flared to life, and the two Dark Adepts leapt at the pair of guards, who scarcely had time to activate their own weapons before they were beset upon. Zhar happily bore down upon his opponent with the strength of Djem-So, but he saw from the corner of his eye that Euka was truly invested in the fight, utilizing every aspect of her Juyo form to harass the foe she faced, both her blades keeping the single black one moving quickly to parry and block every strike as she darted side to side around the robed and masked figure.

The fighter that Zhar faced was a proficient with the saber, having rudimentary training in Juyo and some Ataru, but it was clear that there was only so much that the being had had in the way of training, and it was almost child's play to slap their defenses aside and strike true, a deep power attack carving through the being and ending their life.

Kicking the corpse away, Zhar turned and watched for a moment as his apprentice more than showed up the lack of skills that these pathetic guards possessed. Bored of the proceedings as Euka toyed with her prey, Zhar reached out through the Force and broke the neck of the fighter.

She glared back for only a moment, but at a raised eyebrow from Zhar she let the matter slide. Zhar pressed onward, examining the walls and hieroglyphics of the ancient Sith that were printed along the cavernous corridors.

He had spent a great deal of time learning to read the ancient writing, as there had been little else of consequence on the tomb-world, and he could easily discern that it was a memorial to the fallen Sith Lord Ludo Kreesh, his achievements and history, which had been all but erased from the mainstream chronology of the Sith by his rival Naga Sadow. The fact that the other Sith had had fanatical followers able to recall and detail such events, preserving them so close to the Valley of the Dark Lords, and right under the nose so to speak of the then Emperor was astounding, and a massive historical find.

A pity that it had to be found by such violence, Zhar though, as they encountered another barrier of saber wielding children, clearly taken and pressed into service by Skarok-Nur for his own ends, and possibly even controlled by the Sith Lord's power directly.

It would be interesting to find who they found to be in charge here, and whether the red sith had come himself to this place, his former master's final rest, to find some secret weapon or tool that supposedly had been left for their rebellion from the Empire.

Carving through the several sets of guards, each of which had little idea that the two Imperial Dark Adepts were even within their ranks, Zhar felt the urge to grow complacent and lax mounting, and stopped just short of the next chamber, placing an arm up to halt Euka. She looked at him with concern, but Zhar closed his eyes, reaching through the Force to see beyond the mundane.

Something was intentionally drawing them to the deepest part of the tomb, and there was another darkness there waiting for them, strong than these others, and possible a legitimate threat to the pair of adepts.

Of course, knowing that there was a trap was half of the battle, and they merely needed to be prepared for whatever secrets that these black-saber wielding foes were waiting to unleash upon them.

"Caution…" he whispered, nodding at the passage ahead, where the presence was located, and Euka inclined her head in understanding.

They functioned well together, the pair of them, and Zhar was actually relieved that she was on his side for the time being, even as they drew closer to the final room of the tomb, the stone door sliding open to admit them as practitioners of the Dark Side.

A figure stood near the center of the room, gazing deeply at the raised sarcophagus in the center, running a hand along the stone in almost a loving fashion. "You did well to come this far…" the figure said, the female voice muffled through the mask, "but my master shall not be denied his prize…"

"I'm afraid that the Emperor will disagree quite thoroughly…" Zhar replied, his saber activating threateningly in his hands. Euka followed suit with a small flourish.

"Is that so?" the mysterious female stated, walking around the far side of the casket holding the bones of the dead Sith Lord. "I feel that there might soon be a massive change in the ordering of the Galaxy, as my master will see the end of your precious Emperor, and the Galaxy will fall to those who ought to have ruled so many centuries ago…"

Suddenly, blades erupted from summoned saber hilts in both the figure's hands as the female charged them. Zhar dodged to the left, upper cutting the blade coming at him to deflect it, while Euka ducked and stabbed with one end of her staff, forcing the figure to spin and deflect the counterattack.

"Your blades will make excellent prizes to present my master, along with the secrets of this tomb… fools and followers of the line of Naga Sadow…" the figure said as Zhar turned to face her, and the fight began again in earnest.

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Fury watched from the far side as Darth Diábolis arrived in the archive room where he and Supreme Prophet Feyd awaited him. The Sith Lord seemed to be full of irritated indignation, while the Supreme Prophet had for the last several hours simply gazed at one of the screens in the archive with a look of boiling contempt in his eyes.

The Marauder was almost sure that the pair would come to blows the moment they were in the same room as each other, but surprisingly nothing of the sort occurred. "My Lord, there is little to discover about the Sith that you requested…" Feyd said as the Devaronian Sith Lord stopped at his side, gazing at the same screen, "but through several key chain searches, I have discovered several possible locations that you can seek out clues to their whereabouts."

"Naga Sadow's true tomb?" Diábolis asked, turning to look at the Supreme Prophet. The words confused Fury, as he knew that the Dark Lord in question had a tomb on Korriban, but the fact of another one had not reached his ears.

"Yes, it seems that the Dark Lord, despite having one built for him on Korriban actually fell among his warriors on the fourth moon of Yavin…" Feyd stated. "I see; it would make sense for the apprentice of his greatest enemy to want to gloat over the fallen body of Sadow. It had always puzzled me why Veneficus selected that world as one of the chiefs among the Empire, but now I understand. You have found nothing else?"

"Nothing, my Lord, all records of these figures you speak of have been erased from the timeline of the Empire, and I fear that it was not by those who wanted to eliminate him from history, but his followers seeking to hide the locations of his strongholds." The Supreme Prophet explained.

"I understand, keep looking, notify me of anything you find," the Sith Lord stated, turning to leave as quickly as he arrived, "Fury, gather your best men and come with me, we are paying a visit to the fourth moon of Yavin, and we shall see if Nssjilirst has detected any movement among the ruins of that world."

"Yes, my Lord," Fury said, activating his wrist comlink to signal the warriors of the Black Fist, and more specifically the Wrathguard, his personal elite forces that were formed out of the veterans of the Republic wars. Calamity was also signaled; all instructed to make for his ship and prepare to depart on his command.

While Fury was not sure what they would be doing, in going to the moon, he expected some sort of a fight to break out, if the Sith Lord requested the Marauder specifically to be present.

And he was not a man willing to turn from a potential fight, especially if it was another change to improve his image in the eyes of the heir of the Empire and its legacy.

Within minutes, Fury was at the spaceport, waiting for a shuttle to land and carry him back up to the waiting capital ship that housed his entire special force, when the Sith Lord arrived, stepping toward him with an air of determination. "I will be coming aboard your ship, so as to better hide the fact of who is coming to Yavin, and the reasoning behind it, just in case our enemies have infiltrated farther into the Imperial infrastructure than we've as of yet realized."

"As you wish, my Lord," Fury responded, only somewhat curious at why the Sith Lord was being so overtly cautious regarding these beings. Fury wasn't sure if they were truly worth the concern that was being placed upon them, as the being that he and Calamity fought was less than a threat to the Marauder, but who was he to question the Lord of the Sith?

Diábolis made himself quite comfortable on the bridge after they landed on Fury's ship, and the Marauder did everything in his power to be away from the Devaronian as they set out for the jaunt through Hyperspace to the Yavin system. It wasn't difficult, as he did have an apprentice to train, as well as orders to issue to all the forces he had gathered, but without full knowledge of what they were to expect he had little to tell them, aside from the presence of Darth Diábolis and that they were to obey his orders as though they came from Fury himself.

Afterward, he spent as much time as possibly running through lightsaber forms with Calamity, vigorously trying to get the troll to learn a small amount of grace to couple with the sheer amount of strength that the beast possessed. While the creature was intelligent enough and had affinity for the Force, its control over its own limbs oft times was rather faulty at best, and Fury felt that it would take a great deal of effort to whip some fashion of a form into the troll's brain, and even more to make the hulking body respond.

With a small shudder, the ship slipped back into real space around them after several hours of nonstop training, and while Fury knew there was still a great deal of work that was needed, their pressing business took priority.

Returning to the bridge, Calamity in tow, Fury saw the green and lush moon that was their destination. Nodding at a communication officer even as Diábolis slip from the shadows to be near enough to overlook the conversation, sparing only a single glance of curiosity at the troll apprentice, Fury watched as the holoprojector flared to life, revealing the Trandoshan High Prophet governing this region of Sith Space.

"High Prophet Nssjilirst," Fury said with respect, genuine in his admiration of the greater warrior.

The reptilian Darksider sucked in a hissing breath, "Lord Fury… what brings you to the Moon of Yavin?"

A subtle glance at Diábolis told him that he was to mention nothing concerning the Sith Lord or their mission in detail. "Following up on a lead, I need permission to land some troops on the moon to scout out a possible find under the order of High Prophet Zhar…" Fury made up on the spot, allowing his contempt for his former master to wash away the possible tones of a lie as he spoke.

The Trandoshan licked his lips, hissing pleasurably as he thought for a moment, "We shall allow you to land, and do the work of the High Prophet, but I must insist you stop by our garrison and speak in further detail about your find once it is completed…"

"Of course, my Lord," Fury agreed, seeing no other way around the request, "We will inform you once we have completed our assignment."

"See that you do…" Nssjilirst hissed, even as he reached forward to the console before him, and shut off the channel.

"I sense some sort of deception at work here," Diábolis stated from his secluded section of the bridge, "although it is likely not of Nssjilirst's doing, he is a beast loyal to a fault to the Emperor, and would sooner die than betray the Empire…"

"So it will be of no consequence if we inform him after we seek out Sadow's tomb?" Fury asked.

"We shall see," the Devaronian acquiesced, "for now; however, we shall put all effort into locating the tomb and discovering if the servants of Skarok-Nur are there."

Turning to the admiral over his ship, Fury nodded, and the man gestured to his officers for them to continue bringing the capital ship closer to the moon, as well as for direction to be sent down the line to the shuttle pilots to prep their ships for a landing on the moon itself.

Diábolis turned to look out of the viewport toward the moon for a long moment, and Fury could tell that the Sith Lord was sweeping the planet with the Force, seeking out the pockets of Force energy and in that attempting to locate the tomb itself.

"The entire planet is dotted with Dark Side Nexus," he said after a time. "It may prove difficult to locate the tomb from orbit, ready a shuttle for us and your most elite guards, Fury, as I feel that we shall need to the lead in this," Diábolis stated, turning toward the Marauder.

Fury nodded, gesturing at the admiral, who forwarded the command along down to the hangar. Fury turned to depart for their readying shuttle, and Diábolis strode to be side-by-side with him, as they exited the bridge, Calamity following closely behind, "our strength in the Dark Side will be needed to locate the tomb and navigate any traps that the ancient structure retains to prevent outside intrusion." He glanced back at the hulking beast that followed, "and even your apprentice may have its uses soon enough."

"He will do all that he can to assist us, my Lord," Fury said, vouching heartily for his apprentice. What he lacked in skill he more than made up for in strength and sheer power. "If the fools are anything like what we've already faced, crushing them will be an easy task…"

"Do not take them so lightly, Lord Fury," the Sith chided, "in my line of experience, the weakest of an opponent's tools are always the first used, to lure their enemy into a false sense of security. We may yet face stiff resistance here, remain cautious and alert." What the Sith had sensed, Fury did not know; nevertheless he took the words to mind, and followed in silence toward the hangar.


	7. C6: Expansion

**Today's delays are blamed on World of Warcraft, for having an expansion drop... I regret nothing, its rather well done... regardless, the chapter is here. enjoy... ~F**

 **Chapter Six**

 **Expansion**

Hermione sat in council alongside the other leaders of the rebellion, happy that all parties that had ventured away had returned at last safe and sound. Lord Berethon, Commander Flitwick, Severus, Admiral Weasley, Master Yoda and Lord Teepo all had come together to debate what they had all found in their various exploits.

Commander Flitwick started with notifying them that they had received many supplies from their loose allies throughout the southern Outer Rim. Unfortunately for them, the Inquisitorial Fleet under the unknown figure of Gor-lak was growing more and more clever in tracking their movements.

"I fear that we need to take some steps in creating better stealth technology just to be able to gather the supplies that we need to sustain Sanctuary Base. Either that, or else we might need to loosen out policy of allowing others to know where we're located, so that they can bring supplies to us, rather than select drop offs for us to collect."

"No," Hermione countered, refusing to even think about letting too many more people close to them. She knew that the Empire was struggling to locate their base, and despite the charms and spells that shrouded them, adding too many people into the secret could prove dangerous if their secret keeper passed away, making all those who knew the secret the new keepers. And as strong as Lord Berethon was, he was very old for a human male, and they might have to replace the magic onto another, especially if the Jedi wanted to start being more active in the Galaxy once again.

"I will look into making out ships lighter and more difficult to track, but we cannot risk too many unknowns having the location of our base." She said quickly, to cover her abrupt denial of the idea. Flitwick nodded, understanding her intense desire to protect the last of them as much as possible.

Severus leaned forward at that time, "I was unable to find the formula for the Philosopher's Stone; the Emperor had destroyed every trace of that particular work in the tomes that we recovered."

There was a collected exhale across the table as many of their hopes were dashed at the loss of the miracle elixir that could have saved countless lives. "So that venture was all for naught then…" Admiral Weasley said, disappointed.

"I would go as far as to say that…" Severus countered, smirking, "I have an idea for a project that still may hold merit, but it is extremely dangerous, and must remain the utmost of secrets."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. It wasn't often that Severus withheld information from them, and if he was going so far as to do that he must have been direly serious.

"And what of you, Master Yoda, and you Lord Teepo?" Lord Berethon asked, turning to his two fellow Jedi, "What news came from your investigation of Ilum?"

"Unfortunately," Lord Teepo spoke in responce, "there has been an emergence of a new faction of Force users, unrelated to the Jedi or the Sith Empire."

The others grew still at the news, knowing that the combination of the disturbance that the Jedi had reported alongside the loss of the entire group of Teepo's Paladins on the planet Ilum meant that this was serious.

"They are powerful in the Dark Side, and were taking crystals from the caves on Ilum, only to corrupt them and drain the Living Force from them for their own use in fashioning lightsabers with black blades." He went on to explain.

"This is not good for the Galaxy as a whole…" Berethon replied, deep in thought.

"But it would also be a major blind spot for the Empire, as they will be trying to crush this group just as much, if not more so, than us." Hermione added, interjecting some trace amounts of hope into the meeting that was growing too subdued for her taste.

"It could prove to be excellent cover to go out and act in the Galaxy without too much notice. Recruitment might increase if people feel that the Empire is not protecting them as it should." Commander Flitwick added.

"Not to mention the logistics of moving our ships through Imperial space without detection due to them looking for other factors…" Admiral Weasley stated, smirking to himself. "I propose that we signal to our allies to gather in a larger meeting, to further act against the Empire directly, cause a little bit of chaos in the midst of this potential threat of theirs, and make sure that their attention is thoroughly split."

"That could prove disastrous if the innocent are the ones to suffer for it…" Hermione objected, but the redhead was already holding up his hands.

"We won't attack civilian targets, but military ones, which would also allow others to go out and get the word around to the other groups and get them gathering what supplies they can. If we cannot allow them to come to Hoth for safety, we should think about creating a second base that has looser restrictions for who can come."

"That… actually is brilliant Ron…" Hermione said, amazed that she had not thought of it sooner. If they replicated what they had constructed here on the icy planet somewhere else, they might be able to gather more resistance against Harry and his Empire without having to risk themselves directly.

"It would make a good launching point where we can send teams out into the Galaxy to strategically make life hard for the imperials…" Lord Berethon added, smiling himself, and Hermione knew that those teams would have to include Jedi as well.

"I'm not terribly for sending your members to court acts of terrorism and attack, when they ought to be guardians of the peace, but I see we have little choice left in that regard," she admitted at last. Turning back to Weasley, she added, "find us a suitable planet, and we will make the arrangements."

The red head nodded, satisfied, and immediately opened a star chart on his datapad, typing his way through the Outer Rim for a suitable candidate. "Until we discover a suitable world, we should focus on identifying prime military targets to weaken the Empire in light of these events, while still making sure that the innocent are protected from this unknown threat," he added, typing away at a high speed. "And hopefully we can find somewhere out of the way enough and without a large native populace that would perhaps be irritated by our using their planet… like… this…" he trailed off, stopped on a planet on his datapad.

"Bakura…" he said slowly, looking up at them all, "on the edges of the Unknown Regions, limited native populace, no colonies from Republic or Imperial sources. It's absolutely perfect for a base."

Hermione thought hard, not trying to shoot down the idea but explore every possibility. It was feasibly perfect as a choice, and there was no overwhelming reasoning to throw it out of hand. "We can send a survey team to investigate further and set down some fundamental charms to prepare for a full fledge construction."

The Admiral seemed pleased with the decision, and set aside his datapad and folding his hand before him, content to listen for the rest of the meeting.

"I believe we have enough on our collective plate now to proceed," Hermione said, smiling at them all. With that, they called an end to their meeting; each party departing for their own personal projects, until such a time as the survey team was called and sent out.

That was a process that might take a bit of time, with each leader handpicking members from their subgroups to join the survey team.

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The battle of Ord Mantell had proceeded on quite slowly, the Republic Remnant starting to adapt and counter most of the resources that were allocated to the remaining armies of the Empire. Kelrek knew that this lack of support from the Emperor greatly harmed their ability to fully destroy the last of their enemies, and secure the rest of the Galaxy under the rule of Veneficus.

Still, even as their soldiers continued the battle across the surface, Kelrek eventually withdrew once more to the orbiting fleet, along with Jenah and Srilis. The Marauder was occupied orchestrating their troop movements across the planet, which left the Sorcerer and the Stalker walking the length of the ship with little to do.

Although honestly, Kelrek had plenty he could be working on, secrets of the ancient Sith that he could research from what was open for the Dark Adepts to study, or even those things that he alone had access to and shouldn't, but they needed to be on call just in case they were required to go back down to the planet once again.

"What do you think the purpose for our armies once the war finally ends…?" Srilis asked out of the blue, which cause Kelrek off guard. The normally quiet and reserved Assassin rarely spoke her mind, and when she did it was usually pointed things that made even the knowledgeable Sorcerer pause to think.

"I do not know," he was forced to admit, "perhaps we will be turned into the police of the Galaxy, hunting down all opposition against our Emperor and eliminating them until everything is subject to his rules. Or perhaps we will simply be disposed of…"

Admitting that was perhaps the most painful part of Kelrek's thought process. But it was truth, and that contained a portion of power that they could still act, and not simply react to the circumstances of their position.

"Would it therefore be better then, if the war was never concluded…?" Srilis added, turning to look at him directly, her eyes clouded in uncertainty.

"That is a dangerous line of thought, my friend," Kelrek said, knowing in his heart that it was true. Their actions were likely not going unnoticed, and as soon as they were no longer of use to the Empire as a whole, someone, the Emperor or another high ranking member of the Council, would have them eliminated out of hand.

"Glad to see you've finally come to the same conclusion," Jenah said, appearing behind them as a door to one of the many tactical rooms opened. "Now would probably be the time that we discuss the matter with someone else that wants us around for a while longer…" she added, beckoning them both inside.

The first thing Kelrek noticed was that the room was empty aside from Jenah, which meant that she had been communicating with someone off world only, and not the generals and admirals that were on the ship with them.

Pressing a button on the console, which resumed broadcasting the figure on the other end, Jenah bowed her head. "Lord Diábolis, the others have finally reached the conclusion you said that they would…"

The Sith apprentice, second only to the Emperor himself, smirked at the pair's surprise. "Yes, there is a great shift soon to be had in the Empire, if something is not done to prevent it… Veneficus has grown quite distant from the running of the Galaxy, seeking lost secrets that the Jedi had hidden from us or whatever else, and I sense that he seeks to eliminate the old order once he discovers it… that must not be allowed to happen."

Kelrek wasn't sure exactly what the Devaronian was alluding to, but it still sounded utterly terrible for them either way. "What would you have us do, my Lord?" Kelrek asked.

"For the present, nothing out of the ordinary…" Diásbolis replied, turning to look at something off of the holoscreen. "There is something that will alter things occurring around the Empire currently, outside the influence of the Emperor. Just make sure that the war with the Republic goes on long enough that you survive until I can recall you to me direct service, and then we can prepare more earnestly."

"As you command, Lord Diábolis," Srilis stated, even as the Devaronian Sith Lord nodded, reaching forward to cut the communication.

"So the next generation of Sith are already planning to destroy those that came before…" Kelrek said, turning to the other two.

"So it seems. And let's be honest, with Diábolis we stand a far better chance of survival in the coming conflict." Jenah replied.

"I wonder what he meant by some other event that will change things…" Srilis added, once again stabbing concern into their conversation.

"We won't know until it's pertinent to our cause," Jenah replied, shrugging. "Until then we have a battle here on Ord Mantell to win. We should throw all our effort to eliminating the Republic from this world to show our loyalty to the Emperor, even if we are beneath his notice."

Kelrek nodded, subtly agreeing that the need for them to continue as though nothing had changed was paramount to their secrecy. Even with all his power of foresight, Veneficus surely could not see all things, and so long as they remained of a significant lack of threat to him, there was little reason to presume that he would detect them before they had the chance to even begin acting against him.

"I think we've had enough of a break from the front lines," Jenah said, pulling up a tactical map of the various fronts on the planet below. She launched into her newest plans, which divided them among the various warfronts, but easily played into their individual skills so well that Kelrek knew exactly why the Sith Apprentice had sought them out specifically.

He would not be disappointed when the time came for htem to strike against the loyalists in the Empire, or whatever other scheme the Sith Lord would come up with to secure their power and safety within Diábolis' reign over the Empire.

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Fury was not overwhelmingly certain why Lord Diábolis took so much extra time on his own as they traveled down from orbit to the surface of the fourth moon of Yavin, but by the time they landed, the Sith had rejoined him and Calamity, along with their forward guards.

Whatever the matter had been that required his presence, the Sith Lord did not say, rather taking point as they disembarked, stretching out with the Dark Side and sweeping the planet slowly, searching for the tomb, or at least Fury guessed that. He too stretched out with his senses, looking for the largest pockets of Dark Side energy on the planet, aside from the encampments of those Adepts that trained on the planet, and for themselves.

It was difficult, and Fury felt himself kneel in the grassy dirt to better focus his energy and gaze across the entire planet. There were simple too many tombs and other small temples that glittered with the lure of the Force, Dark and even neutral toned auras.

"There is a possible one near to us…" Diábolis said, his voice lowered as the pair returned to their senses. "It's faint on the outset, but there is much that is hidden regarding it, and there is something else that I cannot say."

"Perhaps the same power that hides the tomb is throwing off our prey as well?" Fury suggested, and the Sith Lord nodded, "that is likely, but if that is the case we shall hunt ruin by ruin and eliminate them all in our own search for the tomb."

Turning and boarding a light speeder that had been brought for their use, Diábolis urged the driver onward, even as Fury and Calamity took a larger hovercart, one stronger in order to support the Troll's mass, and followed closely as the Sith Lord led them into the thick jungles of the moon.

Animals scattered on all sides as they plunged into the foliage, frightened by the power of the Dark Side that the three beings exuded around them, even as they neared some sort of temple in the thick of the jungle, overtaken by vines and greenery that seemed to grow withered as it drew too near to the entrances of the ruin.

"Look there," Diábolis said as they pulled to a halt, pointing. Fury looked toward the main entrance, and saw the signs immediately with the cut foliage littering the stone. Somebeing was here, or had been and departed.

"We'll go in together, while your beast will guard the entrance and kill any who attempt to flee from us," Diábolis commanded, and Fury nodded, feeling more comfortable with the Sith at his side and his apprentice out of the direct line of danger for the time being. Calamity's strength lay in being able to surprise his opponents with what speed and grace the troll actually possessed, but any drawn out saber fight would likely be too much this early on.

Weapons ignited, the pair of Darksiders advanced into the ruined temple, eyes sharp for any sign of movement from the shadows. The troopers were ordered to support Calamity if anything tried to escape the ruin before Fury and Diábolis returned; so for the moment they were on their own as the dove headlong into the unknown.

Passing through several large chambers, with crumbling walls and withered plant-life that had attempted to devour the Dark Side edifice, Fury was quick to fall into a pattern of checking and rechecking their possible avenues of attack alongside the Sith Lord.

That was proved effective when, beyond the initial chambers, the flare of black sabers signaled the ambush that both Imperials noted and had reacted to within moments, leaping back from the sudden strikes of their half dozen opponents.

"We should have known that the false Emperor would have riddled out our master's design, and sent his underlings to track us down…" said one of the lead figures, removing their mask and tossing the item aside, revealing the red skin and facial appendages of a Sith hybrid. Fury had done some study regarding the ancient sith orders, especially in his pursuit of various techniques to improve his handling of the weapons of their order, and had learned the base necessities of what constituted a Sith of the race versus a sith by the belief.

"I, Yihdâ, will soon gain great acknowledgement from our master in eliminating such powerful warriors of the false Empire, and will ascend to become the heir of our true leader." The male Sith said, raising a double bladed black saber, and pointing one end of it at the pair of them. "Slay them!"

The other five masked figured rushed forward, and Fury allowed himself to give in, once more, to the boiling rage of the Dark Side, leaping backward to draw the fools in to him, before springing back forward, each weapon in his hands transforming into a whirling disk of death, focused purely on the offense and eliminating the threat of their counterattacks with his overwhelming onslaught.

At the other side of the chamber, Diábolis took on two more of the attackers as well, in addition to the unmasked leader, his double ended weapon spinning quickly to parry and counter their blows, even as the Sith Lord used his powerful command over the Dark Side to throw them about telekinetically, or unleash blasts of Sith Lightning to create chaos among those tring to defeat him.

Fury would have leapt to the devaronian's aid, but he was occupied with his three, who despite their lack of skill compared to him individually, made up for the deficiency with their teamwork and numbers, constantly blocking his attacks and allowing their fellows time to recover from his staggering strikes.

Time slowed around Fury as he tapped fully into the rage that lay beneath the surface, his blades blurring as he struck, ducked around a pathetic counterstrike, and jumped up, planting a foot in the masked face of the third opponent, shoving himself further into the air and throwing the fool backward. His spun in midair, slashing wide to separate the other two as he landed between them, alternating his attacks from one target to the next, turning about as he circled defections to their retaliations around him, and lashing out with the Force, blasting one back and seizing the other by the throat, hoping to strangle the figure into unconsciousness or death before their allies could recover.

Fending off the attacks of the one he had kicked, Fury focused all his hatred on the foe struggling for air, until he heard the satisfying crunch of broken bones and tissue, and the figure went lifeless, dropping in a heap when Fury released them and turned all his attention to the remaining two.

His pair of sabers whirled once around him, before he darted forward, intent to eliminate the pair as efficiently as possible.

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Grand Inquisitor Gor-lak acknowledged the holocall that came for him on his personal communication station, kneeling as he realized that the Emperor himself had summoned his attention, "What is thy bidding, you're Majesty?"

The form of the Emperor seemed weighed down with strain of his office, but the ancient ork spirit could sense that despite the weakened frame, a frailty of the race to which the great man was born, the spirit of the Emperor was stronger than ever before, with great power that even he could sense from half the Galaxy away.

"There has been a great disturbance in the Force, Gor-lak," Veneficus said, eyes glowing yellow under the dark hood he wore, "The Jedi are not dead, nor are their rebel friends."

"I know this to be true, your majesty," Gor-lak replied enthusiastically, preening at the validation of his work in tracking down the last remnants of the old orders and terrorists to their Empire.

"In light of recent events, they may seek to start striking at our military installations, with both their warriors and even Jedi in their ranks. I want you to take command of a larger detachment, and see that there is an elite strike force prepared to counter their attempts to destabilize my Empire. It is too soon for us to fail; now before I've had all the time I need to make my rule truly Eternal…"

"As you command, your Majesty…" Gor-lak replied.

"In order to ensure that these orders are carried out, I demand that you come to Coruscant, and take a number of my Royal Guard to protect yourself, and signify to the Empire that you have my personal seal of approval for your actions, Grand Inquisitor…" the Emperor stated.

"We shall depart for the palace immediately, thank you for your confidence, my Lord." Gor-lak said, the grin now removing from his face even after the Emperor closed communications with him. He would have all the resources he could dream of, with the personal guard of the Emperor validating his actions throughout the Empire. He could rightly go into any military installation and demand their full cooperation now, as his title and position were official as of this moment.

Ringing through to the bridge, Gor-lak addressed the admiral of his fleet, "Set course for Coruscant, the Emperor himself has granted us authority to act in the name of his Imperial Majesty. We shall form a coalition that will hunt down and destroy ever detractor of our glorious Empire, as well as uncover the last of the Jedi, and eliminate them for all time, once and for all.

All ships turned, like a lumbering giant, toward the Core, and Gor-lak felt pride welling up inside of him even as the stars blurred around them and they were sent hurtling toward his destiny, and the Emperor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veneficus could sense Gor-lak's excitement, all the way from the bowels of his palace. The ancient spirit was more than pleased with the pronouncement and the presumed favor that it brought. Little did the fool know that he was just another pawn in a long set of strife that surrounded the Empire.

In the ork's continued attempts to harass the rebels and their Jedi allies, it would prevent these detractors from gaining too much easy ground on the fringe worlds that would be the ideal targets of the rebels, and even slow the consolidation of power that his apprentice was slowly pulling to himself.

"Fools…" he said gently to himself, even as he walked through the halls of the Palace, back toward the heart of the Holocron Chamber. "None of them understand what I am attempting to find here, they all seek for power in the most limited sense of the word."

The doors opened, revealing the glorious sight of the Great Holocron, many various Jedi and Sith holocrons floating around it in a grand meshing of knowledge and lore. "Here, at the heart of the Galaxy I possess the greatest collection of knowledge regarding the Force than has ever been known," he said, throwing his arms wide and pulling himself off the ground to float toward the repository of amassed knowledge.

Even as he settled within the embrace of the disassembled and rotating pieces of the various Holocrons, he felt their power shoot through him once more, as he had done many times, seeking the methods of power and immortality that the long generations had sought for. With this many Holocrons, the catalogue of knowledge and collective wisdom of the ancients, as well as his own massive presence within the Force should have been sufficient to locate the secret, and unlock its mysteries in little time, and while a great many abilities within the Force were discovered and collected by the Dark Lord of the Sith, the one he sought above all else still eluded him.

Before his mind's eye, Sith Lords and Jedi Masters alike appeared, reasoning with each other in a grand council not seen before the very origin of the twin orders, debating the possibility and where such secrets could be found in all the Galaxy.

"You're straining yourself thin, my old apprentice," the shade of Darth Millennial said, stepping from the shadows of the chamber and regarding the Emperor with the remorse of the dead.

"Like I am in any further need of the sustenance of life, my old Master," Veneficus shot back, knowing that the old mutant had already touched upon the secrets to disregard rest and most of the vital nutrients of the physical realm. Veneficus had taken it a step further, completely voiding the need of food, hydration and sleep, living purely off the power of the Dark Side.

"But you are killing yourself with your dependence on the Force…" Millennial countered.

"I have what is needed to survive," the Emperor retorted, angered that his old master was succeeding in distracting him from his search.

"This is not the way things ought to have played out," said the voice of Darth Bane, the Sith'ari that created the Rule of Two. The specter emerged to stand beside Millennial, as though the two Sith were in agreement, "You are foregoing the Rule I set in place with your search for Eternal Life."

"Is that not what you did when you felt that Zannah was unworthy?" Veneficus countered, "I have defeated the Jedi, realized the grand design that you supported, ought I not live forever and rule this Galaxy with my will alone?"

"There are other ways, easier ways that you know to achieve this…" Bane countered, even as Naga Sadow and his rival Ludo Kreesh appeared in spirit alongside them.

"Not to achieve what I desire. This body, this face will become the immortal symbol of my Empire, and nothing else." Veneficus shouted, his face contorting with rage at the spirits that haunted him, yet gave him so much power in the Dark Side.

"And what becomes of your Empire in the meantime?" Sadow asked, "you have done little to advance it as a whole, so consumed upon your own lusts as you have been…"

"And what would you do with unlimited time in the end?" Kreesh added, "When all is said and done, you will become the Galaxy, and there will be no conflict, no growth… you will become as stagnant as the Jedi, secure in your power until someone else finally topples you forever."

"Then I will create conflicts, I will cause the Galaxy to continue to grow and prosper, and find more, untamed worlds in the Unknown Regions and beyond to conquer, I will wage war upon the entire universe if I must, for I will never die!" Veneficus roared, losing his concentration and falling from his position, only managing to stop himself from colliding heavily with the ground at the last moment.

The Sith Spirits were silent, either in judgment of the current leader of the Order or else in amazement at his ambition, Veneficus did not know.

The silence was broken as Veneficus' comlink crackled to life, "Your Majesty, the fleet of the Inquisitor has arrived, as well as the various detachments that you commanded. What are your orders?" one of the Royal Arcanamach asked, and Veneficus straightened his robes, focusing on the door past his mentors.

"I will be there shortly, have them arrayed in full battle precession before the doors of my palace. We will make a small spectacle of it for Gor-lak's sake…" Veneficus commanded, walking through Millennial and toward the door.

He would show the ancient spirits of his forebears that he was not derelict in his duties toward the Empire, and once he had achieved permanent eternal life, then the Galaxy would shudder at the merest mention of Emperor Veneficus, their one and only Ruler.

Exchanging his black robes for something a bit gaudier, and more fulfilling of his position as Emperor of the known Galaxy, Veneficus exited the front of the former Jedi Temple, rows of his royal guards preceding him in a grand appearance before row of Sith warriors, proudly holding their helmets under their arms and watching their Emperor's every move.

Raising his arms over his head once he was within view of every soldier, Veneficus allowed them to cheer for their glorious Emperor. Wanting to waste little time with speeches or other theatrics for the sake of cannon fodder soldiers, Veneficus tapped into a rare power of the Dark Side, allowing his voice to transmit his will to the hearts of every soldier, binding them to his command.

"You will go forth, warriors of the Empire, and seek out those rebels that wish to destroy our peace and security. Obey my will as Emperor, destroy my enemies!" he commanded, allowing the power of the Dark Side to flow over them all and warp their minds to his command.

"Yes, your Majesty!" they cried as one, their eyes burning with the brand of the Dark Side's power washing over them.

"All Hail the Emperor!" they chanted, even as Veneficus sensed Gor-lak's ship enter orbit.

"Take ten of your fellows and join Lord Gor-lak in his hunt," Veneficus commanded the nearest Arcanamach, "Destroy the last of the Jedi that are hiding out in the Galaxy, as well as their rebel friends…"

"Yes, my Lord…" the masked clone replied, turning away and marshalling his charges, as well as preparing the soldiers before them to board the fleet.

"When Gor-lak arrived, send him to me…" Veneficus said, already tired of being away from the font of power within the temple. Turning away in disgust at the cheering crowd of soldiers, who had already started replacing their helmets on their heads, perfectly disguising the fact that they were under his control, Veneficus started for his palace.

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Ist was not terribly surprised to find that she and her Master had been selected by Lord Berethon to accompany some of the various groups. The fact however that she specifically was summon to meet with Lord Berethon regarding the assignment, without her Master however was strange.

Nevertheless, she complied, heading straight for the room that would have, if there were more Jedi Council Members alive, have been their meeting chamber.

She was surprised to find the room dark as she entered, only for the brilliance of Lightsabers to illuminate the room. Two green, three of blue, brilliant silver and violet blades erupted to life in a weak circle in the center, with room for her to approach.

"Padawan Ist," Lord Berethon said from where he sat at the head of the circle of sabers, "Come forward."

Fully aware of what this was, and humbled by the recognition, Ist approached until she stood before the Jedi Lord and current head of the Order. Yoda was there at the side of his fellow master, smiling proudly at her achievement in the eyes of the current leaders of their order.

"By the Right of the Council," Lord Berethon intoned, "by the will of the Force, I Knight you a defender of the Republic, and a champion of Light."

With a swift stroke, Lord Berethon executed a swift uppercut with his blue saber, severing the Padawan braid from her head, the long strand of braided fur falling to the ground.

"Welcome, Jedi Knight Ist, to the ranks of the Order!" Lord Berethon declared, even as Ist beamed. The lights returned and the remaining Masters shut off their sabers.

"Because you fended off the lure of the Dark Side, and the attempts of the Sith Lord to make you fall, casual and fleeting though they might have been, in that situation many others might have fallen," Master Restelly Quist said, answering the Bothan's unasked questions before she had the chance to voice them.

"I see," she said, only partially understanding. The confrontation, if one could call it that, seemed less than what she would have considered intense enough to confirm her strength in the Light. "As a Jedi Knight, we can now place you in charge of a division that will scour the upper range of the Outer Rim," Lord Berethon stated, coming forward, "you will attend Commander Flitwick as he searches for the remnant of the Republic military that hid among the remaining loyalist planets."

"Highly likely it is, that the Empire, already fight them are…" Yoda added.

"And where are you going to be sent?" Ist asked, genuinely curious.

"With Admiral Weasley, to the southern Rim we shall go, for more supplies we will need for a new base planet…" the goblin Jedi Master said, smirking.

"I understand Masters," Ist said, nodding her head in respect, "I accept this assignment with all the humility I can muster."

"We expect great things to occur around you, Ist," Lord Berethon stated, putting a hand on her arm, as he couldn't reach her shoulder from his chair, "You will do the Jedi Order a dear credit in your service. May the Force be with you…"

"And you as well Masters," Ist said, turning to see Master Xic Freirty gestured at the door, opening it and beckoning Ist outside of the room, directing her in the hard to understand Sullustan tongue that her team were waiting for her already in the main hangar bay.

Obeying without question, Ist made her way to the specified place, finding Commander Flitwick conversing with a handful of Knights, Padawans, and specifically the last living Jedi Shadow that the Order was aware of, Kell Guesto.

"Ah, here is the last member of our group," the Jedi Shadow said, indicating Ist, "newly Knighted Jedi Ist Nanraah."

"Ah, my dear, a pleasure to work with you on this assignment," Commander Flitwick said, smiling as he withdrew his wooden implement for the mage-born's powerful magic, "I suggest we depart soon, as the others will need this space to prepare for many more groups in due time."

"I agree," Ist said, stepping forward toward the shuttle that the other Jedi were already boarding. Along with Ist and Shadow Guesto, Jedi Knights Nrin Dyz and Bagrax Doususo were in attendance, as well as PadawanTols Paa and Mok Januun, each of the young Jedi looking eager to be on their first assignments off world.

The shuttle took off swiftly after they were securely aboard, darting out of the hangar and into orbit, heading toward one of the larger ships in Sanctuary's Fleet. "While Director Granger was somewhat unwilling to part with so many of our ships at once, I think she will be pleased by all that we can accomplish by splitting up as we are," the diminutive wizard said with a smile.

"Even as much as the Force wills it…" Shadow Guesto said, turning to look at the newly knighted Jedi in their midst. Ist nodded back, still unsure about some things, but feeling confident about the future of what was planned for them.

If they could find even a smattering of those loyal to the Republic, boosting their numbers might be the least of their problems. The major issue would be that, as far as they knew regarding that section of the Galaxy, the Empire had never stopped their war in that quadrant, and so fully fledge war ships would be lurking about, and with only one cruiser for them to use, it would be precarious for them to be drawn into a battle with the Imperials.

"I saw we start at the southernmost systems, and acquire as much information as we can before moving on, directing any that we find and recruit to Bakura, where the new base will be built." Flitwick said, consulting a portable star chart on his datapad, "by the time they arrive, hopefully someone from the base will be there directing things and setting down foundations for a defensible location for our allies to assemble."

It was as sound a plan as Ist could think of, nor did any of the other Jedi disagree with the mission. They knew where they were needed most, seeking out those who were Force Sensitive and offering them a place at the Temple on Hoth, as well as protecting their friends if the Empire sent Dark Adepts after them. Otherwise they were the symbol of hope for the failing Republic, which was that the light of the Jedi Order had not been snuffed out as the Emperor had declared.


	8. C7: Aggressive Advances

**Thanks to those who've been reviewed previous chapters! things are going strong with this third book of the trilogy, and I hope that you've all enjoyed it so far, as much as I've enjoyed writing it! please, R &R, and enjoy! ~F**

 **Chapter Seven**

 **Aggressive Advances**

Diábolis ducked, avoiding another strike from the black saber wielding foes that he and Fury had uncovered in the first temple on Yavin's moon. Crimson twinblade saber whirling in response, he clashed heavily with the Sith hybrid's blade, the flashes and sputters of the magnetic fields throwing sparks in all directions.

"Surely you do not think you can defeat us?" the figure, who had named himself Yihdâ taunted, trying to spurn Diábolis into an unbridled rage, and failing.

"I'd like to think we're full of surprises," the Devaronian Sith shot back, spinning out of the way and lashing out with the Dark Side, bolts of lightning ricocheting off surfaces and striking the other masked foe that stood with Yihdâ, blasting the hapless fool backward and well out of the way as Diábolis leapt back into the fray, allowing his blades to do all the speaking he needed.

The pair of twinblade wielders danced, attacking countering and blocking each other in an almost imperceptible duel within their minds, even without the urgency of their blade work.

Diábolis had no fear that Fury would pull through his combat with the others, as the Marauder had been chosen for his impressive powers over the blade, even if he still had a long route of progress to be a true master, but all the same he was dangerous enough that it allowed the Sith Lord to focus on the most power of their foes, trading blow for blow with the hybrid so swiftly that the black and crimson weapons seemed to be wheels of destruction in their hands.

It seemed as though their fight would simply persist on, until at last Fury dispatched the last of his opponents, and rushed to the aid of Diábolis, at which point Yihdâ seemed to consider his venture here a loss. Leaping back and away from the Devaronian's seeking blades, he snarled at the pair of them. "You both are far more trouble than you're worth… We'll meet again, you can count on it!" he spat, before vanishing in a plume of black smoke, and utilized a technique that until now Diábolis only referred to his own master as possessing, vanishing from the location without a trace.

"He's escaped my Lord," Fury said, already trying to locate their opponent through the Force.

"Likely running back to his master with his tail between his legs," Diábolis stated, before turning back to the entrance, "whatever they sought, it wasn't here, we need to keep looking to make sure that they are all driven from the tombs of this world, as well as finding the true tomb of Naga Sadow…" he commanded, and the pair made their way swiftly back to the entrance, where Calamity, the massive troll Dark Adept, stood down at their arrival.

"I see your creature is as loyal as you claimed," Diábolis stated, taking his first real account of what the beast might be capable of. The troll stood tall, clearly understanding the praise for what it was, and Diábolis had to reform his opinion of the Marauder's pet project.

Hardly waiting for any response, the Sith Lord moved on toward their tactical team, quickly inquiring if any others had escaped the ruin before them.

"No, my Lord; we've been here guarding this entrance as you instructed." The commander responded sharply, offering a datapad that showed several more locations through the nearby area. "We've detected many more ruins and tombs throughout the area that may be worth investigating, my Lord, at your discretion."

Accepting the datapad, Diábolis considered it carefully, seeking the real waking world with the Force even as he gazed at the various locations across the mapped surface. He could sense many of the smaller ruins were deserted, or had only the lingering flicker of Dark Side energy, meaning that they had been searched and abandoned.

Most of these clearly were passed over as unimportant and worthless to the black saber wielders, but that played right into what the Sith Lord desired. If they were doing the searching for Sadow's tomb for them, then it would be all the easier for them to ambush them once they discovered which tomb held their interest the most.

And based upon these current findings, they weren't even close to finding the Tomb yet, so patience was their weapon and tool. "We need to move elsewhere. The prize we seek is not in this immediate area. Come," Diábolis ordered.

"Yes, my Lord," the troopers acknowledged, even as the others started quickly picking up what effects had been spread out as they waited. Within minutes they were prepared to move out, and Diábolis boarded the covered speeder that was waiting for him. "Go to these coordinates," he ordered the driver, gesturing with his datapad, and sitting back as the speeder took off toward another section of the raw jungle for them to investigate.

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Supreme Prophet Feyd strode slowly through the Imperial Palace of Dromund Kaas, idly brewing over the most recent developments. He may not have had all access to the secret of the Dark Side as possessed by the Emperor, but he was still a powerful wielder of the Dark Side in his own right, and could sense things from afar as well, perhaps even things that his Majesty did not pay attention to in his pursuit of immortality.

The Supreme Prophet could sense the growing battle lines, both within and without the Empire, and it amused him greatly. To see the stirring conflict that would engulf the Galaxy, so soon after their advent to power, was paramount to participating himself in both joy and sadistic pleasure.

But he was not nearly foolish enough to set his will against the Emperor as others were willing to. The Dark Council, and through them the Prophets of the Dark Side were to live on, even through the ages, the eternal legacy of the Sith, even if they were merely an offspring and not the same thing.

He had his own plans, separate from the Sith and their power play; and he would form a new order, modeled under that which his master, Supreme Prophet Dass'in, that would act independently from the Sith Lords, although they would be united by their devotion to the Dark Side of the Force.

Nevertheless, until that blessed time, he was intertwined with Darth Veneficus, and his choices and rule. Arriving at the now empty chamber that the High Council met in, Feyd was unsurprised to find the hologram of the Emperor waiting for him, looking out across the capital city of the Empire.

"Your Majesty…" Feyd said, moving to stand near to the projection of his Emperor.

"There is a great disturbance in the Force," the Eternal Emperor stated, "Our enemies are gathering their power, even as the rebels muster their forces to add destruction to my people. I need more time to achieve my goals. So it comes down to you, one of my closest allies, to hinder these foes that dare to marshal their forces against my Empire."

"I will follow whatsoever command you give, my Emperor." Feyd said, knowing that it was the only answer possible.

"They have already entered the system, prepare yourselves…" the Emperor stated, even as Feyd felt the blast of the Force and an emergency alarm flared through the Palace.

"Supreme Prophet, ships have come out of Hyperspace and are attacking the sacred capital!" an officer said hastily over the communication, "What are your orders?"

"Raise the planetary shield, recall the defensive fleets, and call all availably Imperial forces to come to our aid!" Feyd demanded, dashing from the room, his robes whipping around him, "This is the Capital world of the Neo-Sith Empire, we shall not fall to some petty usurpers!" he declared.

Even as he arrived in the war room of the Palace, generals and admirals and other Dark Adepts were already assembling, standard orders put in place long ago by Darth Veneficus in the event they were attacked here already going into place, on top of what Feyd himself had commanded.

"How many?" the Supreme Prophet demanded, turning to the officers controlling the sensor arrays.

"Over three dozen ships, my Lord," the Imperial officer replied.

"Scramble all available pilots; we will give them a battle the likes of which these fools have never seen before." Feyd demanded, watching as swarms of fighters launched from bays and hangars all across New Kaas City, even as the defensive fleet moved into position.

"On screen!" Feyd commanded, watching the holographic display blaze to life, revealing the ancient-style ships as they slowly approached the defensive barricade protecting their capital.

Feyd smirked. The utter fools thought that their outdated technology would be enough to constitute a threat to the Empire here, at the heart of their power.

The space battle began in earnest, yet even as he watched their fighters tear through the ranks of their opposition, something didn't sit right with Feyd. There was no possible way that their enemies could believe that their marshal strength would triumph in orbit, then what possible other reason was there for them engaging the Empire so?

There was only one option that the Supreme Prophet could think of. Their enemies were already within the planetary barrier, and wanted to make this planet a deathtrap by having them be sealed in with the others.

"Alert our ground forces, the enemy are already on planet, I want them found and eliminated!" Feyd commanded, the others in the command room scrambling to see that his message was relayed across the planet.

Even still, alarms blared out within the Palace itself. "We are under attack, Supreme Prophet!" one of the officers declared, watching the internal feeds as their foes appeared from within their own ranks.

"How did they manage this so quickly?" Feyd asked himself, even as he turned, "We must defend the Palace, summon the guards. I will lead them into battle myself."

The crimson guard appeared, a far cry from the Royal Arcanamach that guarded the Emperor, but still powerful Dark Adepts nonetheless, and Feyd nodded to their masked forms, drawing his saber and charging from the room.

They had witnessed that their enemies were converging on the mail hall of the Palace, trying to partition off those trapped in the side chambers and especially the upper levels. "Have all available Dark Adepts converge on the Palace," Feyd demanded into his comlink. He and the imperial guard would hold the line until reinforcements arrived to dive the invaders from the palace, and then together they would purge the city of all their foes.

Together, the force of Veneficus' Imperium leapt from the upper levels, directly into the mass of black saber wielding foes, landing with a crash that shattered the stone beneath their feet. Feyd surged forward, carried by the power of the Dark Side, batting aside the ebony blades that turned toward him, and launching himself at the nearest foe of rank, a Sith Hybrid that seemed to be giving all the orders.

The female creature danced backward from his lashing blade, and more of the masked figures leapt in his way. "Protect Lady Srenmivu!" they cried, eager to engage with the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, and he willingly gave battle to them. Leaping over a low strike, Feyd kicked hard at the faceplate of a mask, knocking the being flying, even as his blade worked swiftly to deflect and counterattack another pair of combatants.

"Level the entire building; I was every leader on this world dead!" Srenmivu commanded, even as she allowed more of her warriors to charge to the front, herself falling back to the rear lines.

Such cowardice was unbecoming of a Sith, Feyd thought scornfully, even as the Imperial Guard appeared, sabers cutting through the masses of their enemies pawns.

The sudden push from the side of the Empire was enough to relieve some of the focus on Feyd himself, and he threw his saber, impaling one of the many fools in the head, even as lightning came to his fingertips, blasting those that remained in his way and throwing them from before the leader of the Dark Council.

Summoning his blade back to his hand, Feyd strode forward toward the hybrid, "your offense here shall not go unpunished," he said coldly, "you will die, and we will find and eliminate your cowardly master as well."

That was the trigger he sought, as the woman yelled, black blade rising to meet his crimson, even as the Sith Hybrid engaged him, using techniques that Feyd had long studied, outdated and classical even as they were.

Adopting a more modern style; that of Djem-So, Feyd slammed his blade against hers, hammering his way back onto the attack, forcing Srenmivu onto the defensive; to switch from the fencer's style to Soresu for the sake of her own life.

"You technique is as archaic as your fleet," Feyd taunted, "face it, you and your master are far out of your scope of power, in an age where none of your technology or technique are of any relevance any longer."

"We shall see…" the female hissed back, switching and mirroring Feyd's attacks with her own countered, revealing that she had intentionally been playing the part of the fool, luring him away from the Imperial Guard and into the ranks of her own forces.

"Slay them all in the name of Lord Skarok-Nur!" she yelled, even as the opposing Force users suddenly changed, their aura in the Force growing deeper and more devoid of any light whatsoever than Feyd had ever sensed before.

Several even changed physically, shifting from the forms of humanoids to that of gargantuan beasts, roaring in defiance and gripping their weapons in massive claws.

Throwing Feyd back, Srenmivu smirked in triumph, raising her black weapon overhead in a classical pose of Djem-So, "you have underestimated us for the last time, fool!" she declared, leaping forward and turning the tables in their personal duel, and the entire battle as a whole in one go.

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Yoda looked out at the elongated star lines of Hyperspace, still sensing strangeness in the Force far off from them, but it was something unrelated to any trace of the Light, so he did not fear for his former Padawan, now Jedi Knight.

However, in these days and times, one couldn't afford to block out even the subtle shifts in the Dark Side of the Force, and Yoda felt drawn to understanding just what had occurred. Unfortunate for him, they were heading in the opposite direction of the source of the surge of Force energy, off to meet with their secret allies throughout the southern Outer Rim to spread the news of a new base that was open for all on Bakura, as well as acquire supplies and raw materials for the fabrication of said base, as well as whatever else they could afford to take with them.

Their first stop was the planet Utapau, where the rebellion had allies within the native Pau'ans who traded ore to them in exchange for services and protection of their neutrality in the fight against the Empire.

Opening a communication with their contact, a high ranking member of the planet's government named Kul Nelm, Yoda watched as Admiral Weasley made contact. "Ah, greeting Admiral," Minister Nelm said, bowing slightly at the neck and shoulder in greeting.

"Minister," Weasley replied, executing a more formal military bow in response, "We've come to discuss some matters of urgency, and see if we are able to procure more ore to use in the construction of ships and buildings."

"It is safe at the time for you to come down to the planet," the minister replied, "The Empire have not come by Utapau for a long while as of yet, and we have news that may interest you as well. My private residence will be opened to you and those guests that you decide to bring with you."

"Our thanks, Minister, we will depart for the planet shortly," Weasley said, ending the connection quickly and turning to Master Yoda.

"Pleased to see us, Minister Nelm was…" Yoda commented, watching the red haired man's reaction closely.

"Yes, while typically he is rather cheerful, for their people, it still strikes me as somewhat odd for this sudden bout of generosity." Weasley replied, thinking hard, "Keep the ship in high orbit, and prepare for the jump to our next destination, we will take a small number down to see what we can discuss with the dear minister, and return quickly." He ordered the officers on the bridge, "If even a single Imperial ship appeared, leave without us and return in three standard hours."

"Yes sir!" the deck officer replied, saluting Weasley as the Admiral turned to join Yoda in exited the bridge.

Taking only a small number, less than half a dozen, including only Yoda as the sole Jedi representative, they soon were soaring through the atmosphere toward the large sinkhole wherein the government sector of the planet resided, descending slowly through the congested airspace, thick with flying creatures as well as interplanetary ships toward a rather elaborate covered building on the upper levels of the hole.

Several of the stubby Utai scrambled toward their shuttle as they landed, dragging a fuel line with them and proceeded to hook it to the vessel, which Yoda saw as a polite gesture on the part of their host. Fuel was hard to come by, and any that was gifted to the rebellion was seen as a great gift.

"Admiral," the tall Minister said as he strode toward their party, accompanied by a few other representatives of his port administration. "I had expected the commander to be with you, but I presume he has other business in another part of the Galaxy?"

"You would be correct in that assumption, Minister," Weasley said cheerily, and the group of five followed their host into the building, where a long dining hall awaited them with various fruit and small delicacies from the planet were set out for them to partake.

"Please, sit, we have much to discuss and I felt that a good meal would do everyone well as we talked." Minister Nelm said, gesturing at the various seats around the table, far more than they had bodies to fill, and Yoda caught Weasley grinning at the clear hospitality that they were being showed.

"Generous, this is Minister, grateful for the consideration we are." Yoda said, taking a seat on the Ministers left side, while the Admiral took the one opposite the goblin Jedi Master, so that they were closest to their host and could discuss matters freely.

"Ah, Master Jedi, an honor it is to see one of the famous Order still alive," the Minister said, smiling widely, the sharp teeth of his species showing. "Yes, you will be more than pleased to know of what we have learned as well, or perhaps, at least forewarned." He added, sobering from his overly cheery attitude.

"Oh?" Weasley said, already laying a napkin in his lap as servants filled the plate before him with several selections of the appetizers before them.

"Yes," Minister Nelm said, after he bit into a slice of fruit, some green looking piece that seemed to be filled with a sweet smelling juice. "It seems that the High Inquisitor had been summoned back to Coruscant on a matter of some urgency," he added, his voice lowering slightly as he leaned forward conspiratorially.

"It is said that the man has received the Emperor's favor in hunting all members of the Rebellion, and is gaining several legions of troops under his command, as well as the presence of the Arcanamach at his disposal."

They all grew silent at the pronouncement, knowing both how powerful the Royal Guards were, and the status symbol that their presence implied to the rest of the Imperial forces. "So the Emperor finally considers us a threat worthy of his attention…" Weasley stated, wiping his mouth with the napkin, his eyes serious.

"It would seem so," the Minister replied, turning from Yoda to Weasley and back again, "Whatever you are all up to, I advice extreme caution, as there is no telling what the High Inquisitor will start to do in order to find any leads regarding your whereabouts."

"That makes our news all the more important to share only with those you absolutely trust," the Admiral said, and Minister Nelm nodded, waving his hands at the servants, who all bowed and left the room swiftly, "The rebellion is building a new base on the planet Bakura," Weasley said quickly, much to the surprise of the Pau'an. "We need ore to build new buildings there and make the place ready to receive allies from across the Galaxy."

"I will see that the right people bring what you need to this place as soon as we can manage it," the Minister stated, "but I urge you to extreme caution. If there was to be a betrayal within your ranks, now would be the time that it happens, with the eyes of the Emperor finally directed at you fully."

"Extreme care, we will take, to make sure that the information into only the right hands it makes." Yoda assured the Minister, even as the Pau'an clapped his hands to resummon his servants, bringing with them trays of main dishes.

"Excellent, but we ought not let the food grow any colder before it is eaten," Minister Nelm said, his jovial nature returning as he eagerly watched them all partake of the Utapau delicacies.

Only when they were filled to their capacity, and carrying several large containers of surplus with them back to the ship for the rest of the crew and officers to enjoy did the Minister allow them to depart, waving as their shuttle lifted off from the landing port.

"Fine fellow, Minister Nelm," Admiral Weasley said, smiling down at the rapidly retreating figure as they took to orbit once more, "a bit odd perhaps, but more than helpful to us in whatsoever we've needed."

"The others we have to visit, hopefully of the same mindset they will be." Yoda said, smirking up at the grimace that crossed Weasley's face. The officer was keenly aware of something unpleasant that was along their route, and while Yoda help no concern to the prospect of unpleasant people for them to deal with, it still carried with it a hint of possible danger in these days.

"Well," Weasley said, facing forward and breathing slowly, "We'll deal with those matters when we get there, and thankfully no sooner," he added in an undertone.

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Zhar ducked to the left, avoiding the whirling black saber once more as their female opponent lashed out wildly. Her guards were already slain through the efforts of the High Prophet and his apprentice, leaving this last opponent between them and the forgotten bones of Ludo Kreesh.

Unfortunately, this one seemed to be far more skilled than the others, and was not willing to go down nearly as easily, even with the pair of powerful Dark Side users attacking her in tandem, Zhar taking the heavier brunt of the unknown figure's attacks, as the greater threat.

Nevertheless, utilizing every skill that he possessed, Zhar attacked, his blade hammering upon her defenses again and again as the powerful technique of Djem-So to unleash all his physical strength, coupled with his mastery of the Dark Side.

From the other side, Euka was transforming into a blur of motion, executing acts of Ataru that defied logic and sometime the law of physics through her creative and powerful use of the Force to heighten her speed and reflexes.

However, their opponent seemed to easily fall into the defensive form of Soresu, even if it seemed to be an archaic and outdated application of the form, it still managed to allow the wiry female to doge out of the way of their attacks, and even buy her time to form her own counterattacks, although they were bat aside by the larger and more power-heavy swings of either Imperial Dark Adept.

Even as the being started to move toward the exit, as though thinking she might escape the planet that Zhar ruled, he had enough of their little game. Reaching out with the Force, Zhar crushed the supports to the doorway, caving in the passage to their chamber, and sealing off any exit for the three of them.

"There is no escape for you now…" he said slowly, stepping back and allowing himself a moment to breathe, even if he did not lower his guard.

"You have only sealed yourselves to your fate, fools!" the woman cried, her weapon vanishing as black lightning leapt from her hands, the jet black bolts slamming into Zhar and Euka's blades and throwing the pair of adepts across the chamber. Zhar collided heavily with the stone sarcophagus, rolling over its surface and landing heavily on the other side.

The force behind the lightning was something of a surprise, and he wondered how strong these beings truly were with the Dark Side to have such devastating attacks. Even as the pair of Dark Adepts rose, the Sith hybrid approached, black lightning still crackling between her fingers.

Zhar retaliated in kind, blue-white bolts flying from his fingers even as Euka threw out a blast of telekinesis, the pair of them catching the sith full force, and slamming her into the wall of rubble between the two attacks.

Leaping swiftly to close the distance, Zhar brought his saber down, crashing into her hastily raised defenses, the red and black blades inching closer to the sith's face with every moment that they stayed locked in their power struggle.

The sith altered the angle, allowing Zhar's weapon to slide to the side, but as she started to counter, Euka arrived, driving the point of her staff into the sith female's gut the black blade's strike went wide, and Zhar was able to deflect it away, knocking the weapon from her grip entirely, and leaving the mortally wounded hybrid to stumble and fall to the ground.

Even still, she was laughing to herself as she slowly died, the trauma to chest and stomach regions causing massive organ failure. "You've doomed yourselves just to put me down…" she said, gritting her teeth through the pain of dying slowly, "And for what? My master will crush you all in the end, and will reestablish the Empire as it would have been, so long ago if Sadow hadn't won his duel with Lord Kreesh…"

Unwilling to listen any further to the woman's prattle, Zhar made a fist with his free hand, snuffing the life from the dying ancient sith hybrid with only a handful of short gasps emerging from her closed windpipe.

"That's enough of that, then…" Euka said, turning her attention from their adversaries to the collapsed passage.

"Luckily they forgot the creative architecture of the tomb," Zhar said, gesturing at the pile of rubble, which pulled, one large stone after another, into the tomb itself and well out of the way, rapidly clearing the passage and exposing the solid ceiling that lay just beyond the sculpted blocks that formed the passage, "a true apostate like Kreesh wouldn't have had time for a formal tomb that was build stone upon stone," Zhar explained as he worked through the Force to clear their path completely, "this fabrication was built within the cave network, shaped only to appear as though it was of the same grandeur as those in the Valley proper… a charlatan to the end it seems…" he commented at last, relaxing as the final set of boulders were simply shunted to the side, leaving the passage out of the chamber clear for their use.

"Nevertheless, our archeologists will want to study this tomb," Euka commented as they departed, running her hand gingerly along the carvings and sith hieroglyphics that coated the passage, "the amount we could learn, even if it's false information is worth the effort."

"I agree," Zhar said, shielding his eyes as they made it back to the sunlight outside. The others of their enemies had scattered when the fighting broke out, vacating even the caves from the explosion of Force energy that occurred deep within, likely attributing it to some manner of vision or specter of their long forsaken master.

"They're still on planet," Euka said, looking around and spotting several vehicles still laying abandoned near the cave's entrance.

"We'll find them in due time," Zhar said, already walking back to where their ship had landed, "without their mistress I doubt that many of them have the will to oppose us even if they wanted to…"

To their surprise however, when they returned to their shuttle there was a platoon of imperial soldiers waiting for them. "My Lord!" the officer in charge said, running to them, "Urgent news from the Supreme Prophet! Dromund Kaas is under attack, and all nearby forces are commanded to lend their aid, what are your orders?"

Zhar and Euka shared a glance, "and her I though this mess would settle down as quickly as it started," the apprentice said, sighing dramatically, even as Zhar's eyes hardened at the news.

"Prepare my fleet," Zhar commanded the officer, "we will depart immediately upon my arrival, have all upper tier Dark Adepts report to the _Basilisk_ immediately, we will show the Supreme Prophet that he has the might of Korriban behind him in this fight."

"Yes, my Lord!" the man said, turning and running back to his squad, beginning the process of spreading the news across the planet.

"Your work is never done in the Empire," Zhar added, approaching the shuttle once more, intent on departing with Euka directly for the cruiser.

"And what of the others of our foes left here?" Euka asked, accompanying him.

"While I doubt that the little conflict over the capital will take long," Zhar answered, starting the engine and angling their ship toward the orbiting fleet, "they will not have enough resources to contend with even the instructors of the academy, not without their leader present…"

While he did believe that, Zhar could tell that it had not convinced his apprentice, "if the others cannot contend with even the weakest of our foes, then they are not worthy of joining our ranks," he added, smirking at her grimace of annoyance. She had at one point had fallen into the category, as far as Zhar had been concerned, and the sting of near rejection still burned deep.

"So long as we return swiftly and deal with the rest of them," she said with a huff, "I don't like loose ends."

"A good policy to live by, in the long run," Zhar agreed, as they exited the atmosphere, "but not always possible in every circumstance, my apprentice."

Punching in the clearance codes for the fleet, Zhar sped through the vacuum of space toward his private hangar on the massive cruiser, those aboard recognizing his unique identification and granting him passage onto the ship without question.

"Admiral, set course for Dromund Kaas, and prepare the Gaze Squadron for launch at a moment's notice," Zhar ordered across his communicator, "we will launch as soon as the last shuttle from the planet arrives."

"As you command, my Lord," came the reply.

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Zychre enjoyed the praise that his master had given to him for preventing the treasures from being taken, even if some were removed despite the massive ruby cobra's best efforts. Already, the massive guardian circled through the underground tunnels and canals that were laid out far beneath the nest that his master's new home.

The ruby cobra behemoth loved these dark passages, with their cool damp texture and the smooth tubing that he could easily fit through to get from one part of the nest to another. While typically Zychre would be found down in the depths here, this particular time there was a specific reason.

Prey had ventured into the master's nest, trying to sting them with pathetic tools and weapons, and Zychre was more than eager to devour all those who opposed master Veneficus.

Stalking through the underground network, the massive serpent was able to taste the strange beings in the air, as well as sense their presence through the strange energy that he was gifted by his master. There were several of them, but Zychre had never bother to learn human numbers in order to quantify them specifically, as it did not matter to him the exact number of them. They were there, threatening his and Master Veneficus' nest, and they would die until there were no more.

Sinking deeply into a large underground pool of water, Zychre waited for the prey to venture closer, ignoring their tittering languages as they spoke among themselves. What they had to say was irrelevant to the snake, he hungered and they were foolish to come so close to his hunting grounds.

Patience prevailed however, and Zychre held perfectly still until one of the fools stepped to the very edge of the water, and then he struck. With a massive splash of displaced water, the ruby cobra shot straight from the water, jaws bared and fangs glistening as he bite down on the creature that had draw too close. The others cried out in abject terror, fleeing in all direction as the one Zychre attacked was swallowed whole into the gullet of the hulking serpent.

The fear of the others was more powerful even than their scent for the cobra to follow, and eagerly he slithered after the smaller group, sneaking through several passages and tubes that would wind around and cut off the retreat of the fools that dared to come to this place.

Even as he leapt out in their path however, the serpent was mildly surprised when they lashed back with weapons, their energy bolts and small explosions rocketing off the crimson scales and causing only minimal damage to the powerful creature.

Open his jaws wide, Zychre caused his venom glands to contract, projecting pure toxic liquid out onto the attackers. They screamed in pain, even as the compound started to burn and dissolve them completely, but Zychre was already on the move one more, circling around the labyrinth of tunnels, systematically eliminating and consuming those who had run other directions.

This sort of hunt had been an ongoing sport for the ruby cobra for many years, and had contributed to him having gained the size and power that he had. Many generations of prey had come to these tunnels, intruding where they didn't belong and by design falling before Zychre as the serpent sought them out and slew them.

The tunnels were designed, and modified further by Zychre himself, to be as confusing as possible to those without the scent and skills that the cobra possessed, which gave an advantage to the hunter over the hunted. But the moral concept of a fair hunt was not something that the snake was interested. Hunger drove him to do his, as he was not given food from his master any longer, having far outgrown any possible sustenance short of a full living being that could satisfy.

And many came. Zychre didn't question how or why they flocked to this place, although occasionally it was clear that the prey thought themselves the predator and were hunting for the ruby cobra specifically, although nothing in the end result changed, expect that the prey tended to have larger weapons that actually harmed Zychre if they had the time to use them.

That was rare however, as the serpent was cunning, and had had many hunts to prepare for every scenario, and knew the layout of his lair much better than those who intruded, where to hide for ambush and where to pursue or flee as needed.

The terror was about as tantalizing as the blood and flesh of the beings that Zychre devoured, and he paused for a few moments as the last being quailed under the him, savoring the fear before ending the creature's life forever.

There was little time for Zychre to relish the successful hunt however, as soon afterward there was a blossom of power from the central area of his lair, where Zychre would rest under the powerful energy radiating downward from his master's nest.

There was only one possible explanation for such a surge of that energy. Master Veneficus had come down to Zychre's lair, and that meant that he wanted something of the loyal serpent.

Taking the swiftest route therefore, the ruby cobra dove into the waters that connected the core of his lair to the network of tunnels, surfacing gracefully and approaching the place where the powerful dark master waited, next to the vertical tunnel that was far too small for Zychre to enter, but led itself up to the rest of the master's nest.

" _Zychre_ …" Veneficus said coolly, touching the snout of the massive serpent as Zychre came to rest beside him, " _I sense that you've been hard at work keeping intruders from the underbelly of the Temple_."

Zychre crooned under the praise of his master once more. Hearing the speaker talk to him in the tongue of serpents was the most wonderful thing to hear, as it reminded Zychre that he was not alone. " _Soon you will have better prey then these fools and exiles_ …" the human said, looking off across the central lair. Often the dark one would journey down here and speak, partially to himself and half to Zychre, and the serpent would serve as the silent ear for his master.


	9. C8: Pressure

**Greetings to my lovely readers! Many thanks to those who sent reviews and private messages, I adore them all and your questions bring a smile to my face. I am most pleased to report that the story is proceeding well, and the plot is most delightful to me as it generates itself before my eyes. Hopefully, you all think the same as we proceed onward into the unknown future of the Galaxy far away, and I love to hear more from you about how you feel regarding the chapters as they are presented to you, slowly and steadily like a fine banquet. For the fun of it, I would request an answer to a question in the reviews, mentioning a specific scenario that you'd like to see happen in the story. It could be regarding characters in this chapter, previous or future, from the legends canon for this time period or from my fan-made canon. just write an event you'd like to see happen, and who knows. I may be inspired to include it in some fashion in the future of the story. So, with that humble request, please R &R, and enjoy the next chapter. ~F**

 **Chapter Eight**

 **Pressure**

Filius Flitwick looked on eagerly as their fleet emerged from Hyperspace to the outskirts of the first system that they would investigate, Roxuli. Less of a planet and more of a centralize staging area for the massive asteroid mining operation that was taking place here. Highly unlikely that they would find too much of use, but it was a good enough place to start their search for the Republic remnant and recruiting all those still loyal to the former system of government.

Glancing at the collection of Jedi that had been assigned with him for this mission, Filius smiled. The youthful energy of the younger Knights and Padawans reminded him of Hogwarts, where he had felt more alive than anywhere else, instructing the younger generations in the magnificence of Charms and offering his wisdom to those of his house, but the madman now known as an Emperor had taken all that away.

A small team was assembled to go down to the main facility, along with one of the Jedi Knight and Padawan duos. Filius decided to remain behind, and keep a lookout with the rest of the fleet, just in case the Empire was aware of their presence and sought to ambush them here. Gor-lak's personal obsession with him was something that Filius was well aware of, and had to plan for time and again whenever he went on a mission.

How the strange magic user was able to locate him so readily, Filius was not certain, but nevertheless it was very real and dangerous power that he had to be ready to counter at a moment's notice.

"It's rather lonely and quiet up here, isn't it," said a young voice at his side. Filius turned, spotted the newest member that was added to this mission, young Jedi Knight Ist Nanraah, the young female Bothan that was once the Padawan of Master Yoda.

"Yes, it can be," Filius responded, gazing out across the field of asteroids.

"Do you think we'll find the Republic Navy in time?" Ist asked, turning to also look out across the field of space before them, unsure what the Commander was looking for.

"Not here for certain, but hopefully, yes," Filius replied, "Although I'm not terribly sure what shape they may be in when we find them."

"We can only hope for the best," Ist stated, even as the shuttle they had sent down started to return.

Turned to the deck officers, Filius requested an update of what had been discovered. "Commander, it seems that the Republic remnant was last seen near to Ord Mantell, but they are locked in a massive battle against the Empire."

"We shall set course in that direction, then," Filius responded, "the next system in that direction ought to be Dorin yes, we shall go there, and take the Hyperspace route from there to Ord Mantell."

"Yes, Sir!" the officers replied, going about the required procedures to activate the Hyperdrive.

"That seemed too easy, locating the last forces of the Republic," Ist stated, deep in thought.

"Yes," Filius replied, "but that only means that we need to exercise even more caution than we would normally."

And he meant it. Recovering what strength they could was their primary objective, and with the Republic forces locked in battle with the Empire, it was dangerous for them to rush in without more information regarding the state of the battle, which was why Filius elected a slower course, stopping at the systems along the way rather than heading straight to Ord Mantell.

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Supreme Prophet Feyd snarled as he batted aside the blade of Srenmivu, which had gotten too close for his personal comfort. He was not a young man anymore, and the far younger Sith hybrid seemed to know this fact, and was eager in using her youth and agility to her advantage.

But even as the battle raged around them, Feyd was preparing to make his move. He may be older than this one, physically, but that gave him great experience and wisdom that his opponent had no way to prepare or expect.

It was perhaps something that the Emperor would be concerned about, but drawing upon the vastness of the Dark Side, Feyd tapped into the ancient arts of Sith Sorcery. The shadows around the room grew stronger, even as he allowed himself to be pressed back into the entrance chamber by Srenmivu, and closer to the heaviest concentration of shadows that he was manipulating.

Only when he was on the edge of the grand stairs that led up into the Imperial Palace, Feyd finally struck. A muttered string of the ancient Sith language, and the shadows leapt to life, seeking out his foes and burning whatsoever they touched along the way.

Screams from the warriors of the usurpers back at the entrance distracted Srenmivu for a moment, and Feyd lashed out, lightning pouring from his fingers at her. The black blade whipped up even as she turned back to him, catching the dangerous bolts on her weapon, but that in itself was yet another distraction.

"I will tell you this only once," Feyd said, the darkness strengthening him as he advanced toward her, his lightning intensifying with every step. "The Dark Side is ours to control, we are the heirs of the Emperors. And we, the true Sith and their servants will rule the galaxy, not you nor your master, heirs of failure and disgrace."

The female snarled back at him, but there was nothing she could do, even as the shadowy tendrils started to weave around her. If she dropped her saber, the lightning would hit her, but if she stayed where she was, the shadowy Sith magic would slay her just as readily.

It seemed as though victory was assured for Feyd, but at the last moment Srenmivu twisted at a strange angle, shadows enveloping her and shrouding her from the Supreme Prophet's vision. His lightning launched through the place she had once been, and the tendrils of sorcery stabbed through empty air.

Where the hybrid Force-user had gone however, Feyd did not know; however, the rest of her warriors seemed to sense that their leader had departed. In large groups they started to turn and flee from the palace, piling into speeders and other craft to depart from the isolated platform that held the massive Imperial structure.

"Fan out through the city," Feyd commanded the dark adepts that were left in the chamber, "flush them out into the open and slay them!"

"Yes, my Lord!" they responded, leaping into action to pursue the fleeing enemy into the city, even as smoke rose from multiple sectors.

Disgusted at how they had escaped and were wrecking havoc on the Imperial capital, Feyd turned back to the Palace itself, returning quickly to the tactical command chamber. Calling up a hologram of the city in real time, he quickly took stock. From the patterns of the fires and the outbreak of fighting that had spilled out into the streets of the industrial and residential sectors, Feyd determined the enemy's objectives.

They sought to destabilize the Capital by crippling their infrastructure and frightening their loyalists into no longer wanting to support the Empire. This could not be allowed to take place. "Send word to our elite squads to secure the residence districts, and have the Dark Adepts flock to the industrial zones. We will strike back at these fools before they know we're on to their schemes." He commanded.

"Yes, my Lord," the officer in charge of the city-wide communications and logistics replied, forwarding the Supreme Prophet's orders throughout the city to their various military units and Dark Adept volunteers who had surged to their aid.

"My Lord, we've received word from orbit," another officer declared, "High Prophet Zhar has arrived with reinforcements from Korriban."

"Excellent," Feyd stated, sensing the powerful Adept entering the fray in orbit, "we shall strike them from above and below now… put me through with the High Prophet."

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Euka watched in boredom as her master launched with Gaze Squadron to attack the rather unimpressive strike force that had arrayed itself against the Capital of the Empire's power.

"My Lady," an officer said, approaching her with a salute, "transmission from the planet, Supreme Prophet Feyd wishes to speak with Lord Quelmok."

"I will speak with him, and make the appropriate excuses, put him through," Euka said, turning to face the hologram of the Supreme Prophet as it appeared over the bridge.

"Apprentice Euka, where is High Prophet Zhar," the man requested, turning to look at her from his tactical chamber.

"Prophet Zhar is out with Gaze Squadron mopping up the ratty group assaulting your defense fleet, how can we be of assistance," Euka said, overriding the need for her master's presence.

The Supreme Prophet nodded once, accepting that Zhar would be out of touch for a time, and continued, "The enemy has concentrated their attacks on both the industrial and loyalist residential sectors. We've divided our forces to strike at both places to defend, but the Force users of these insurgents are surprisingly skilled, despite whatever they try to display to inspire overconfidence. They have Sith training."

Euka paused at that revelation. The warriors that they had fought had been surprisingly weak in comparison to the Adepts, but if the Supreme Prophet said it, there must have been truth to the matter. But still, it was worrisome. It was a fatal flaw in the training of the Dark Adepts that they had only a smattering of the knowledge of the Dark Side, while the majority was concentrated upon the Emperor and his Apprentice alone.

"Where do you want us deployed?" Euka asked, diving to the heart of the matter.

"The residential sector," Feyd responded, "I will be leading reinforcements to back up our Dark Adepts in the industrial sector. So long as the citizens are protected, anything else can be rebuilt."

"I understand my Lord, we shall do as you command," Euka declared, and the Supreme Prophet cut the communication.

"I want four assault shuttles prepared and loaded for a counterassault into the residential section of New Kaas City, mixture of shock troopers and Dark Adepts," she demanded, turning to the officers of the _Basilisk_.

"As you command!" the officers replied, scrambling to make the needed calls throughout the fleet to secure the troops and vehicles required.

Turning from the bridge and activating her personal comlink, Euka contacted Zhar directly, "My Lord, we are being deployed into the city to curb the ground assault, Supreme Prophet's orders."

"Very good, my Apprentice, I shall clear the skies and supply air support once the space battle is concluded."

"Yes, my Lord," Euka replied, taking the unspoken command to continue as she had declared.

The communication ended, and she turned back to watch as their ships pulled closer to the planet. Once they were in range, Euka left the bridge, to join in her personal shuttle for the ground assault.

She wasn't about to let her master have all the fun.

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Gor-lak stared hard at the holographic map of the Galaxy. Immediately upon being instated to his position of power once the war had officially ended for the Empire, he had seen to converting a personal chamber for his use in the arcane arts of his people.

Even now, smoke and incense wafted around the room, flittering between the projected images of planets and circling through the Hyperlanes, seeking the Ork's prey. It was a spell he had made excellent use of in his pursuit of the rebels and their remaining Jedi friends, although he could not as of yet locate their hidden base.

But no matter, he was more than capable of tracking any of the members of their little fleet, as his spell targeted those who carried the magic of their mutual home world, meaning that unless they were on Coruscant with the Emperor, there was nowhere in the Galaxy that they could run from him.

The amusing part was that now the fools had thought to split up, going to the northern and southern sections of the Galaxy, likely searching for more allies or other resources to continue their pathetic little insurrection against the Empire.

But Gor-lak was at a loss of which to chase after first. If they had split their magic users, that likely meant that they had Jedi with them as well, which could pose a danger to his non-Force Sensitive soldiers, but luckily with his new title of authority, Gor-lak could call upon as many Dark Adepts as he so wished to fight for him in the name of Lord Veneficus.

Still, he knew that their commander was a wily one, the half-goblin Flitwick, and the other strategists that they possessed were not without their merit and skill. Either way would be difficult, even with his surge of forces. Gor-lak was not willing to jump in too quickly and prove himself foolish in front of his Emperor, so strategy was required for this matter.

Making a decision, and going with the group in closer proximity, Gor-lak sent a call to the bridge, ordering them to shift their course to the south, heading to Malastare and beyond along the Hydian Way, which would bring them in proximity to the location his spell indicated, where he could divine a more specific trajectory for their prey to track.

Even as the Inquisitorial Fleet set out, and the stars blurred in their eerily beautiful way when entering Hyperspace, Gor-lak set aside herbs and other items that he had recovered from the old planet long before its destruction, and cultivated for his own private stores, readying the ingredients for some special compounds he would use to counter even the famed skills of the Jedi.

Oh yes, he had taken a long time in preparing what would be needed for his revenge against those Star-Wanderers, and with the rule of the Sith behind him, he had free reign to subject those parasitic fools that destroyed his ancient empire to all the torment he could muster.

He had wished mightily that his Majesty would have allowed Gor-lak to break some of his prisoners for him, but the Sith Lord was set in his ways and the power of his Force. Gor-lak had accepted that that would be the way of things at that time, but now… now he would show the Sith Lord that the arcane ways were extremely effective, by building up a force of broken and controlled Jedi that would serve them by leading Gor-lak and his forces back to their base, and in the end betray all that they held dear.

The stone cauldron flared to life as Gor-lak turned his power upon it, the concoction within that he had previous prepared returning to a vapid boil. That would change soon, even as Gor-lak started to measure and add ingredients from the ancient Sorcerer ways.

The fumes mirrored the colors of death, acidly green, as they joined the spell indicating their rough destination. "I'm coming for you, little rebels," Gor-lak said aloud to himself, smirking wide as he worked the old magic, "and this time you won't slip away nearly as easily…"

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Zhar flipped his small star fighter over once more, almost lazily outmaneuvering the ancient ships that sought to bring battle to the Sith capital world.

It was so pathetic that these fools thought to even so much as distract their forces with such a pitiful attempt at attacking their space defenses, and he had more than expected the call from his apprentice, telling him of the land battle underway in New Kaaz City.

He would allow his apprentice her time to shine, before he swooped in from above and flattened the rest of the cowardly mob that sought to dismantle all that their Emperor had worked for.

Setting his sights on another outdated vessel, Zhar squeezed slowly, activating the triggers for his blaster cannons, frowning in disappointment as they shredded the archaic armor and pathetic shields of the other craft.

Whatever vehicles these beings had dredged up were clearly from an age before even the New Sith Wars, as they seemed more rust than metal as they limped through space, their only surviving grace being that they were able to outpace standard torpedoes... barely. Any worse and Zhar feared that their assistance would have not been needed at all, as they were tearing through the ranks of these pretenders and their sycophants without mercy or delay.

Finally, the last of their ships cracked, a blossom of flame disappearing into space as the hull was breached, and Zhar set his sights on the planet below. He knew that Euka would be heading to reinforce the residential quarters of the city, so he steered Gaze Squadron to fly over the centers of industry, just to get a sky view of the fighting and whether they would be needed to offer air support in that region of the city.

The fighting was heavy in the streets of New Kaaz City, and many buildings were already burning in the fallout of both the space battle and the sabotage their enemies were attempting to inflict on them.

Strafing several rusted tanks that somehow had made it into the city, Zhar let loose a barrage of plasma, decimating the line of vehicles before they could cause more damage to the infrastructure around them.

"My Lord," one of his wingmen said over the intercom for the squadron, "there are too few targets for us to pick off on the ground, and the streets are too narrow to land, what are your orders?"

Thinking fast, Zhar looked down at the chaos below. They had to have landed somewhere nearby to be able to smuggle all these into the city, "We'll find their landing site and destroy it, preventing them from escaping." He stated, "Fan out toward the outskirts of the city and spiral outward from there; it has to be in the jungle. Do not engage until we are on route to support."

"Yes, my Lord!" the Gaze squadron units replied and the ships split off immediately, circling the city and expanding their radius as they went; meanwhile, Zhar turned and sped toward the Imperial Palace, eager to see what Feyd had done in the meantime to coordinate their efforts in restoring order to the capital city.

Landing amid a massive mobilization of forces, Zhar quickly sped from the landing platforms toward the palace itself, bypassing the guards and following his memory of the layout to the command center.

"Supreme Prophet," he said as he entered, spotting the younger man that led the Dark Council amid generals and other tacticians, all in the process of observing the strategic layout of the city as the battles raged through the streets.

"Ah, Lord Zhar, good of you to come," Feyd replied, glancing at him before returning his attention to the battlefield before them, "Our enemy have failed in several of their objectives," he said, pointing out locations that had been marked across the city, including the palace itself Zhar noted.

"Currently we are striving to drive them out of the city entirely, and with luck they will flee to whatever base camp they've set up. This will give us the opportunity to blast them from orbit as they attempt to flee…" the Supreme Prophet continued, gesturing at the chancels in the streets that were currently clear of their own forces.

"My star fighter squadron is currently seeking out their shuttles as we speak," Zhar added, stepping forward, "they are to report immediately before engaging to eliminate their chances of escape."

"Good, then we will have them cornered, and capture as many as we can for interrogation…" Feyd said, eyes glinting madly with the promise of such pain, "they will give up the location of their master, and only then will they be allowed to die."

Zhar was about to respond, when his comlink crackled to life, "My Lord, we've located a concealed landing platform out in the jungle, and several shuttles have already launched, permission to engage?"

"Granted," Zhar replied sharply, almost wrenching the comlink from his arm in his haste to reply, "shoot down those fleeing if you can, but level the rest, I don't want another ship to so much as activate their engines."

"As you command, my Lord!" the pilot replied.

The location was transmitted to him automatically, and Zhar fed it to the Supreme Prophet, watching as the holographic map zoomed out to cover the distance to the hidden escape shuttles, a good ten klicks into the jungle from the city and well out of range for fleeing soldiers on foot.

"They likely have ground vehicles nearby," Feyd concluded, calculating the distance, "have soldiers sweep this area," he indicated the jungle nearest to the city in the direction of the shuttles, "and confiscate or destroy any ground transports they find."

"Yes, my Lord," an officer replied, turning to a communication terminal to relay the orders to the ground troops.

"I will take my fighter to join the destruction of their landers," Zhar said, turning his back on the display, "and I will make sure that there is a warm reception awaiting our enemies when they arrive. Make sure that their communications remained jammed…"

Sprinting back to his fighter once out of sight of the Supreme Prophet, Zhar took off once more, veering to the vector that his wingman had indicated, and gunning his ship to full throttle. Already there was a massive dogfight over the location when he arrived, the rest of Gaze Squadron having arrived to back up their fellow in destroying the shuttles, and fighters from their enemies coming from somewhere to try and prevent it.

Keeping low to the tops of the trees, Zhar pulled back on the controls, angling himself in a sharp incline, and let loose a flurry of missiles at the oncoming enemy fighters, forcing them to scatter and succeeding in destroying two that couldn't veer out of the way in time.

Rocketing past the enemy formation, now in disarray, Zhar continued to pull back, looping around so that he faced the surface of the planet, and the landers far below, and launched another volley of explosives, peppering the ground with their detonations and sending dirt, stone and metal flying in all directions as his missiles impacted the ground and the ships too slow to power up and get their shields in place.

" _Basilisk_ ," Zhar said into his comm., "This is Gaze One, send a detachment of troopers to our location, with autoturrets and anti infantry weaponry."

"As you command, my Lord," the admiral replied, and Zhar pulled out of his steep dive to continue the aerial combat with the last stragglers of the enemy fighters.

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Hermione felt very out of place and uncomfortable as her shuttle took off from _Sanctuary_ Base, bound for Bakura and carrying the warders and other mage-born technicians that would aid her in creating their secondary base-planet.

Her discomfort was mainly the idea of being away from Hoth, and their protective wards and defenses in the event that the Empire came for them, whereas they would be rather vulnerable out in open space or on the unwarded planet.

She was well aware of how easily the Empire seemed to home in on their locations, and while she was unsure how they were managing it so routinely, she had several projects trying to determine and counter the cause back on Hoth, but they were not nearly close enough for field testing.

And now with this necessary distraction taking up much of their effort and resources, those projects would have to wait even longer.

The flight through Hyperspace was tedious and nerve-wracking, but Hermione survived it, and finally they were landing on the empty planet that would soon shelter more of their resistance forces. A large company of war droids marched out first once the landing ramp was lowered, fanning out and securing a perimeter around the shuttles, followed quickly by several of their troopers.

Hermione exited next, wand out just in case, as well as her other technicians, who were wheeling portable shield generators and other warding devices with them. The large cargo bay opened and construction droids went to work establishing prefab buildings all around their landing site, also laying down permacrete for landing pads and foundations for larger structures yet to come.

Aiming at the sky, even as her people set to work powering their generators, Hermione started the groundwork of their powerful defenses, " _Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum…_ " Repeating the chant of spells over and over, she watched as the jets of light slowly flew into the sky, forming a massive deflector shield, which expanded outward with every new spell that fed into it.

Within moments, the first device went online, and a jet of golden light shot from the top of it, merging with her protective barrier and charging it with the same energy, which held within it magic from all the mage-born left in the resistance, empowering the spells with their combined signatures, and continuing to funnel power into it and complete the shield as the edges descended to a large radius around their initial landing.

It was a temporary measure, but one that seemed quite effective for land skirmishes, not that the rebels had had opportunity for such as of late.

Still, the device allowed Hermione to discontinue her chants and focus on the next, and significantly more difficult, part of the process: warding the planet itself.

Her assistants scurried about quickly, etching the runic symbols into the soil around her, even as Hermione drew all the magic that she dared from her core for the ritual spell. Several more machines, more batteries of magical energy stored over several months than anything else, were positioned close by for her to access, even as she started to chant the beginnings of the charmwork required to make a location unplottable.

The process wasn't going to be easy with the sheer magnitude of the planet, but it was one of the most powerful charms that could be stretched to that size safely for a normal mage-born. Even the charms over _Sanctuary_ only covered the base itself, rather than the entire planet, but with that scale they were able to layer far more into their wards.

Hours past, and Hermione could feel the strain to keep her wand moving, and the chant from fumbling, but she persevered. The fourth and fifth generators of magical reserves had been brought out, and she could only begin to feel the last part of the charm starting to take effect, binding the powerful shrouding magic to the planet itself.

Momentarily, she wondered with a smirk how the Emperor would feel to suddenly not be able to sense an entire planet with his over glorified powers of the Force. That thought carried her through to the end of her spell, and she slumped to the ground as it sealed into effect, making it so that none could locate the planet without her say so, or records of it provided by her or those she trusted.

The others assisted her back into the shuttle to rest, even as she distributed orders in a tired voice of what was next, charting out the planet and selecting several secure locations to build their main strongholds, as well as scouting out what resources were available to them on the planet that they could make use of in the short term before supplies arrived from off world.

Granted, none could come to supply them until Hermione spread the information about the planet to her commanders, and through them to those that were to be gathering to this new base.

But that had to wait for a time, even as Hermione slipped into a restless sleep.

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Euka stepped off the shuttle into the midst of a firefight, her saber igniting alongside her battle lust. Leaping into action, she took off at a dead sprint at the nearest knot of enemy troopers, the garish and highly archaic helmets setting them off drastically from the Empire's soldiers.

Their armor was not up to the same standard either she found out, even as she carved easily through the first few ranks of troops that she encountered, before finally a black saber flared into life as their Force users responded to losing so many soldiers.

The cloaked and masked figured rushed out to divert Euka's attention, and despite the ease that she had slew many of the same, she recalled the words of the Supreme Prophet and was cautious in her approach. Not to say that she did not open up with a full flurry of aggressive Ataru strikes, spinning and contorting herself to strike at every possible angle to end the duel swiftly, but she was prepared for when the figure actually tried to fight back.

It happened swiftly. One moment it appeared that Euka would simply overwhelm the masked figure through pure technique, the next she was thrown backward from an explosion of Force energy, and her opponent rushed her, black saber flaring with excess power, colliding heavily on her saberstaff, before the masked being took to the offensive, unleashing an almost perfect counterattack of Ataru strikes, even flipping over her in a surprising expression of acrobatics.

Whatever strange powers that these enemies of the Empire held, it seemed to be rather limited in application, and Euka knew her own style's weaknesses, and used that to her advantage, slamming her blades heavily into the jet black one, wearing down the stamina of her opponent with every clash.

Finally, the being made a fatal mistake, trying to overcorrect when Euka batting a wide swing away, leaving the flank exposed. Kicking out with a foot, Euka slammed into the back of the figures knee, hearing the tell-tale snap of the joint as the figure crumpled.

Jumping forward to end the fight, she knocked the black weapon aside once more and impaled the figured through the chest with her weapon, feeling the shock and pain radiate through the Force as the figure expired.

Turning quickly to gauge where her next target was, she spotted a knot of enemy soldiers flying outward from an explosion of dust, even as crimson blades spun in tandem. She was almost unsurprised when Ekitc Batoi emerged from the dust, his staff still spinning in its deflection of enemy blasterfire.

"I would have known you come to try and carve some of your own glory out of my attack…" she said snidely, turning to blast a trooper that got too close with an accurate explosion of telekinesis, flinging the figure away like a discarded toy.

"Only I will succeed my Master, you upstart," the Mirialan shot back, facing away from her and holding off the press of enemy soldiers at her rear.

Euka smirked. Despite their grievances against each other, they were still allies on this battlefield, and in unison the pair of Dark Adepts, apprentices of the two most renowned members of the Dark Council, exploded into action.

Ducking low under a pair of shots, Euka slid forward, aided by the Force to cover significantly more ground than possible otherwise; she rose with a powerful uppercut, severing limbs, armor and weapon from the poor fool that stood in her way, before kicking the being beside the soon-to-be dead soldier to the side. She then crashed downward, slamming her blade through the helmet of the soldier she disarmed, splitting the figure in two, each half falling to the side and displaying the charred remains for all to see.

Before the other enemies even had a moment to react to the gruesome death of their fellow, she was among them, saberstaff whirling in deadly arcs as she tore through their ranks, landing critical blows to midsections and limbs on those around her.

Those that attempted to flee felt the strength she held over the Force, ripping them back toward her and her blood-red blades. Euka rejoiced in the bloodshed and the aura of battle that coated the Force around her, feeling it strengthen her beyond her normal capacities.

The ground shook slightly as several ancient vehicles rolled forward, the turrets of the outdated tanks attempting to train upon her and Ekitc, but she was already moving, dodging to the left and right as she surged toward them, her staff spinning in a protective shield in front of her to deflect stray bolts of plasma that the remaining infantry tried to hit her with.

Kicking off the ground with the aid of the Force, she flew the last distance, spinning midair and lashing out with the crimson blades, cutting the turret of the cannon in half, as well as scoring several other deep marks on the hull of the vehicle, which yielded easily to the saber.

Landing heavily on top of the tank, Euka thrust her arms out to the side, emitting a wave of Force energy to knock all the infantry gathered around the tank to the ground, giving her the time to wrench the hatch off and rip the driver out of the tank, killing the armored figure before throwing the being violently to the side.

Blasterfire erupted around her, and she spun slowly on the spot, her weapon becoming a blur and she deflected and redirected the bolts from her enemies into each other, slowly thinning their ranks.

A blaring yell caught all their attention, even as Ekitc appeared in the air above them all, throwing his own weapon in a wide arc that cleaved through a small knot of soldiers, and bolts of lightning erupted from the Mirialan's hands, frying another side and forcing them to take cover as he landed by Euka's side on the tank, his weapon returning to his hand.

"You know," he said, turning to blast another soldier with more lightning, "if I didn't hate you so much, we'd actually make very good allies," he admitted.

"I agree, on both counts," Euka replied, grabbing a soldier with the Force and using him bodily as a club to crash through another group of infantry.

"I think this party has gone on long enough though," Ekitc added, and Euka sensed what the Mirialan had in mind. Together they leapt high into the air, each extending a hand to the tank below. The vehicle lifted off the ground, spinning as it moved and slammed downward once more onto the last group of enemy soldiers, crushing many and forcing the rest to flee.

Landing lightly amid the rubble and scrap of the now destroyed tank and scattered weapons and armor fragments from the now decimated ranks of troops, Euka surveyed the damage that they had caused.

"My Lady!" called a Sith trooper to Euka, running to meet her and Ekitc, "a report from the Supreme Prophet."

Even as she turned to respond to the trooper, Euka could sense Ekitc's irritation that the message was delivered to her and not him. "Speak trooper." Euka said, encouraging the soldier to continue and ignore the apprentice of the Supreme Prophet.

"The enemy is in full retreat, heading toward the various entrances of the city, we're to pursue them to catch them between our forces and Lord Zhar who has cut off their escape from the planet." The trooper reported swiftly.

"Very good," Euka replied, "rally our forces, we will drive them before us and cut as many down as we can as they head to their doom," she ordered, grinning at the prospect of a true hunt through the jungle.

Even as she turned to leave, Ekitc caught up with her, "I don't like this," the Mirialan said, "It's too simple…"

Euka thought about the situation, and slowly she became inclined to agree with her rival. "Even so, we have orders to follow," she replied in the end, however. "While I agree, we must still remove them from the capital city, and then in the open jungle we can deal with whatever surprises they have in store for us."

"Well, then I guess I won't stop you," Ekitc said, walking away slowly in another direction, "but don't think I'm going to rush to save you when you get yourself into trouble again…"

Euka rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't dream on it…" she shot back, scoffing.

The arrogance of the other apprentice was unending, but Euka turned her attention away from him as she rejoined her forces, already mobilizing and pushing against the hastily retreated enemy, driving them through the city and slowly merging with other pockets of Imperial soldiers that were hampering the main enemy force from retreating further into the side streets of the city.

To Euka it was a clear and intentional strategy, herd them out into the open, and hammer them from above or from long distance with ranged artillery or bombers, forcing them to openly retreat to wherever they had secured their transport off world.

And presumable, this was where Zhar was already waiting in ambush. Euka wondered how many would die before allowing themselves to be taken captive, and interrogated for all they knew.


	10. C9: Challenges

**So firstly I just want to mention the strange phenomenon that keeps occurring every so often, where just out of the blue across the board of my stories two or three different people will shove their upturned noses in and start flat out complaining that they don't like the direction I've taken via review... Now, I'm grateful for the numbers that these rather silly individuals give me through their useless attacks, but it still confuses me... why, if you honestly don't like the direction a story is going, and vehemently state so and that you are "not going to read anymore," would one even bother to make it public knowledge and not only not walk awy, but KEEP READING and complaining? Even more so, they're reviewing content that had been made and published half a decade ago, so it's not as though im going to magically go back and change it to please one person... clearly from the state of things that sort of opinion is in the vast minority, I mean seriously look how far this story, and Stormreaver and age of magic have come. Am I just overthinking this, or is there some sort of disconnect from reality going on here? it's just strange to me that it always happens in a wave, like these angry people come out of the woodwork like termites on a set schedule to troll everything they can before returning under the bridge from whence they came... If anyone has insight I would love to hear it.**

 **Meanwhile, to those who leave REAL reviews, comprising of constructive criticism and advise for the future as well as just praise, I thank you for bearing with that little pseudo-rant, and encourage you to enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Nine**

 **Challenges**

It had taken a deal of time to do so, but Diábolis was confident that they had at last found the true tomb of Naga Sadow.

It was not the most grandiose of ruins that dotted the jungle world, but from initial scans the majority of the complex was underground, which in the Devaronian's opinion suited the mysterious Sith Lord quite well, as record had it that Sadow had been embroiled with nonstop shadow wars among his fellow Sith, even in the midst of the Great Hyperspace War with the Republic and the Jedi.

Despite the clear ignoble death that the once proud Sith Lord faced, it was clear that the Dark Lord had done great things worthy of remembrance, and that was what Skarok-Nur's followers sought to defile.

"I want a wide perimeter around this entrance," Diábolis commanded the troopers with them, indicating the small ruins that lay above ground, "and search for any other opens and guard them as well, Lord Fury, his apprentice and I will go inside and destroy or flush out these usurpers. Leave none alive."

"As you command, my Lord!" the troopers replied, thumping their armor as one in reply, and fanned out to follow their orders.

Fury and his troll apprentice stood ready to follow, and Diábolis took a deep breath, tasting the power of the Dark Side that existed in this place after so many years, and closed his eyes, trying to locate their prey more precisely within the tomb's depths.

It seemed as though great power had once existed within this tomb, but only a shadow and a whisper of it currently remained, as though the afterimage of something. Still, it was enough for the Sith apprentice to locate the deepest chamber of the tomb, and sense the beings within, clearly trying to desecrate the physical remains of the once mighty Sith Lord.

"Come, we must move quickly; they are already in the tomb chamber," he said, venturing inside swiftly, the other two following close behind.

Following his feelings from the Force, Diábolis ignored many of the off shooting tunnels, and avoided many of the hidden traps and dead ends in the maze-like passages. They would remained for Imperial Archeologists to discover and catalogue for years to come, but for now they had a specific mission, and limited time in which to act.

Within an hour of traveling through the dark and cold passageways, Diábolis knew that they had arrived at the tomb chamber, braziers and torches alight within the massive sarcophagus room, and a large number of their masked and robed foes gathered around the large stone coffin, which presumable still held the decayed remains.

Their presence did not go unnoticed however, and as one the others turned to face the two Dark Adepts and Sith Lord that approached them, weapons in hand but not activated as of yet.

"So, you finally tracked us here…" said the figure nearest the tomb itself, even as he lowered his hood, revealing the snide smirk of Yihdâ, "It took you long enough I must say, and if not for the defenses that Sadow placed on his tomb you would have been far too late…"

Glancing over the sarcophagus quickly, Diábolis noticed that indeed, there were signs of attempted forceful opening. It was strange; however, that it had withstood such attempts up to now, for as far as the Devronian knew, the tombs of the ancient Sith responded well to any influence of the Dark Side.

Apparently, Naga Sadow has put in place many other measures to limit or control who could access the deepest secrets of the ancient Sith, although how he had managed that, Diábolis did not know.

Nevertheless, he was not willing to wait around for these rejects to figure out some way around to steal whatever Naga Sadow had hidden away, and activated the blades of his weapon in response.

Fury followed suit, and a moment later the massive troll behind them activate his weapon as well, the sheer size of the troll's saber bathing them in the crimson light.

"I see you will not be dissuaded then…" Yihdâ said, frowning. Motioning with his hand, the dozen guards activate their black lightsabers, advancing cautiously on them.

"Take them," Diábolis ordered, even as he darted forward to engage a pair of cloaked figures, intercepting their overhead strikes with a blade each of his weapon.

Fury laughed loudly, leaping into a group of five, his independent sabers whirling and spinning as he took them on all at once, the surge of Dark Side energy through the Marauder giving him the speed and strength to combat so many.

The troll lumbered forward with a challenging roar, great lightclub swinging from side to side, forcing more of their enemies to dodge completely or be swatted aside like gnats. Diábolis was actually impressed with the beast, aptly named Calamity. While the creature lacked true skill and precision with the weapon, it was more than able to hold its own through sheer physical strength and endurance.

Throwing the pair of foes off of his weapon, the Devaronian Sith Lord grabbed one by the throat, hurling him to the side and into a wall, while spinning out of the hasty strike of the other, his weapon becoming a whirlwind of activity as he moved into his counterattack.

The ebony blade was too slow to outpace his flurry, and within moments he had cut down the other, and as the two Marauders took on five opponents apiece Diábolis charged for Yihdâ, eager to pick up where their last confrontation left off.

This time however, there would be no escape for the hybrid or any of his followers, as the Sith Apprentice was not considering capture for any of them, merely a quick and merciless death for the glory of his future Empire.

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Kelrek sensed the moment that the battle on Ord Mantell shifted to their favor once and for all.

Seizing their center of supplies had been the first step, bombing it from orbit to destroy all hopes of a Republic occupation of the planet, followed by the systematic invasions and capture of their strongholds and outposts across the planet.

Many had tried to escape, and were destroyed upon leaving the planet by the waiting capital ships of the Empire, but still the fools held out hope for something.

Watching from his command ship, the Dark Adept Sorcerer kept a keen interest on the progress of their warriors as they moved across the planet's surface, dismantling their power bases and executing every Republic sympathizer the found.

Or at least he was, until a tremor in the Force turned Kelrek's attention to the edge of the system.

"My Lord, a ship has emerged from Hyperspace," one of the officers said hesitantly.

"Identify it," Kelrek ordered, even as he gestured for the sector to appear on the holographic display.

"It's… the _Pursuit of Justice_ , my Lord," was the horrified answer, and Kelrek glared at the virtual representation of the blasted ship that had escaped the downfall of the Core.

"Flitwick…" he said slowly, intoning the name of the most wanted commander in the Republic Remnant. "Move to intercept, I want that ship destroyed immediately!"

Even as they turned about however, the ship that was the bane of the Empire's entire Navy, a fusillade of weaponry emitted from the capital ship, many of which were unknown to the Sorcerer.

"Deflectors double front!" he ordered, even as the ship rocked from the first wave of ordinance slamming into them.

"My Lord, fighters and shuttle are emerging from the ship, heading for the planet," he was informed by another officer, and Kelrek snarled in reply.

"Send word to Jennah and Srilis, and call the other ships to reinforce us against the _Pursuit of Justice_ ," he said, hating that he required such assistance for one ship.

Even as he turned back, fighter launched from their ship, flying toward the _Pursuit of Justice_ , plasma flying from their turrets in the attempt to penetrate the capital ship's shields, not that Kelrek expected any results.

And sure enough, as soon as the fighters entered targetable range of the cruiser, a barrage of short range phasers shot through them, penetrating the smaller ships' shields and blasting through their hulls.

Kelrek grunted, noting that the other capital ships for the Empire were quickly approaching. Somehow he just knew that this wouldn't be as simple a battle as he wanted it to be. "Launch more fighters, and prepare a shuttle with boarding parties," he demanded, gathering his effects from the console and turning, "I will join them in the attack on the ship."

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Ist wasn't sure about this plan, even as the shuttle she was in vibrated with the pressure of the atmosphere intensifying around them. Commander Flitwick had taken them rather swiftly through the various systems, sending only brief messages to each, and learning that the remnant was losing the battle here on Ord Mantell.

He had determined that if they were to rescue any of the former Navy, they had to act swiftly, and quickly planned out making his own ship a distraction for the forces in space, while the Jedi led a company down to the planet below and gathered as many of the former military as they could before retreating further into the north-eastern quadrant of the Galaxy, and then shifting their trajectory to throw off the pursuing Imperials to flee back toward the new base.

They knew that construction was already underway on it, as none of them could remember the name or exact coordinates of the planet, which meant that it had become unplottable, as per the mage-born's special wards.

Still, dropping down into the middle of a war on the planet's surface was not the debut that Ist had envisioned for the return of the Jedi to the Galaxy, but nevertheless it was as though the Force willed it to be so.

"We're nearing the heaviest of the fighting," the squad commander said, keeping those in the passenger area of the shuttle informed of their progress, even as the fighter escort veered off to return to the cruiser and help defend it from the Imperials.

Ist nodded, checking her lightsaber for any signs of wear or potential damage, even as the other troopers went about checking their gear at the last minute. Shadow Guesto was with her in this shuttle, while Knight Dyz and his Padawan Tols Paa were in another, and Knight Bagrax Doususo and his Padawan Mok Januun were on the third, evenly spacing out the Jedi among their soldiers for the three drop zones that they had chosen.

The lights around the shuttle went out, soon to be replaced with the red emergency lights that indicated they were about to land, and Ist stood, allowing the Force to keep her balance as the shuttle jerked to a halt. The lights extinguished, and the ramp to the outside opened with the hissing of air pressurizing to the planet.

"Go!" Shadow Guesto shouted at the troopers, and they charged out of the shuttle, quickly identifying their enemy, whose armor had only marginally changed since the fall of the Republic, and opening fire.

What really got the attention of everyone on the battlefield however, were the yellow flashes of light that accompanied Ist's and Kell's lightsabers activating, the blades of their weapons leading the way as they charged the Imperial ranks.

"For the Republic!" shouted the commander of their squad, and the rest of the troopers yelled in response, hitting the ranks of the Empire like a hammer, fresh soldiers quickly overwhelming the tired and worn out warriors of the Sith, and pushing them back.

"Release the droids!" Ist commanded, and several of Magi-tech's war droids rolled out from under the shuttle, unfolding and opening up with full automatic fire of their weapons, quickly cutting down any foe that did not quickly retreat.

Expected, once the infantry fell back, Dark Adepts of the Empire showed up to try and win back the ground they were losing. A pair of black robed figures leapt into the fray, their crimson blades intercepted by Ist's blade and Shadow Guesto's staff.

Dodging back from a complicated flurry of slashes and stabs, Ist fell into her Makashi dueling stance, deflecting the strikes with precise movements and counterattacking, advancing in a straight line through the hailstorm of blaster fire that surged around them.

Her opponent attempted to circle her, but she merely pivoted, keeping her blade between herself and her foe. It was obvious what the being wanted, to place her between himself and the ranks of hidden Imperial troopers, but in doing so he had done the same to himself, the rebellion lines pushing up behind him even as Ist pressed the attack.

The being realized their mistake when a blaster shot rang out behind Ist, and she sidestepped it completely, forcing the Adept to deflect his own trooper's attack.

The figure attempting to leap over her, to reestablish their original orientation, but she predicted where the being would land, and stabbed, impaling the chest armor of the adept, dropping the robed figure quickly.

Beside them, the other fell to Shadow Guesto's blades in quick order, and the rebel troops ran past them, eager to push the lines of the Empire back even further to give them time and energy to regroup and evacuate what Republic soldiers they could find.

"Can it be? Master Jedi, it is an honor," said one of the other warriors, approaching and removing his helmet. "We never gave up hope that the order had survived the Imperial purge."

Ist smiled at the man, sheathing her saber and beckoning several of the other Republic warriors closer. "We're here to evacuate you, the battle here is lost, but we can regroup and strike back at the Empire in a more organized fashion, on our own terms rather than theirs."

"We'd have to speak to command, but our forces are scattered across the planet," the leader, a Colonel from the insignia on his armor, stated. "There'd be little time to rescue them all."

"We have other parties landing in two other strategic points, to operate as rally points for evacuation." Ist explained quickly, pulling out a small handheld holoprojctor and turning it on, showing the map of the quadrant and the three landing zones, "just have your forces withdraw to these points and we'll see about getting them off world."

"Understood commander," the Colonel said, snapping a sharp salute to Ist, who was rather taken aback that the Republic military would still consider the Jedi as their generals and commanders. It must have shown on her face, because the officer looked bashful at the response, "Sorry…" he said, "force of habit after the war."

"Understood," Ist replied, turning back to the front lines, where Guesto and the rebel forces were holding the line well away from the shuttle, "we'll maintain a wide perimeter here, you focus on getting what forces you can loaded onto the shuttle as quickly as possible. We can signal the ship in orbit for more if needed, but be quick."

Even as the soldiers turned to converse among themselves, and communicate the message across the planet to their commanders, Ist proceeded back to the front lines, saber reigniting as she engaged herself with batting blaster bolts back from their forces to the regrouping Imperial onslaught.

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This was the sort of battle that Lord Fury lived for, his twin crimson sabers clashing with that of five foes, the blackened masks hiding the fear that he sensed plainly from their forms as he battled with them throughout the ruined tomb.

Off to his right, Calamity was wading through another set of five warriors, his brute strength and massive size aiding him in keeping pace with the smaller and better trained Force wielders.

Leaping over a low swing from one of his enemies, Fury twisted in midair to lie horizontally, corkscrewing as he lashed out with his blades, striking armor and searing through robes of two other opponents, forcing them to fall back and nurse wounds from the melted metal and burning cloth.

Landing hard, Fury called upon the Dark Side, enraging himself and pushing his body to even higher feats of speed and strength, allowing the fear of his enemies and their pain to fuel him in killing them faster.

A pair of weapons was caught and deflected to his left, even as he kicked behind him, catching a fool in the chest and sending him flying backward, before slashing with his free weapon at those whose weapons he had knocked to the side.

A pair of screams rent the air, and two of his five fell to the stone, but he was still moving, his momentum carrying him around to face off on the one he had kicked. Slamming from above with both blades, Fury forced the figure to his knees, pressing down with all the power he had.

The figure had no strength left to oppose him, and soon his blade was forced level with his own head, where Fury struck like lightning, removing the offending masked head from its shoulders.

Whirling on the last two, Fury roared in the power of the Dark Side, charging forward and blocking high, jumping to kick the other opponent in the chest, before rotating around as he landed past them, weapons flashing and shimmering in the gloom of the tomb as he attacked with a powerful flurry, the pair only managing to keep up for a few moments before they too were cut down like their allies.

Even as he rose above their crumpled forms, another scream tore at the stillness of the tomb. Some fool had allowed Calamity to get too close, and the troll had seized the being, crushing the enemy in his powerful fist before hurling the broken figure across the room, where they had smashed against the stone wall.

Taking quick stock of the situation, Fury could tell that Calamity was in his element, wading through the remaining three of his five opponents, while Diábolis dueled with the skilled Yihdâ, whom they had encountered and fought before.

Moving toward the Sith apprentice, Fury charged the half-breed from the rear, cutting off any avenue of escape, and flanking the sith hybrid in the process.

Timing his strikes with the Diábolis, Fury swung high, before dropping to stab low with his other weapon, distracting and overwhelming their opponent between their four separate blades.

Yihdâ tried to execute a similar maneuver that Fury often employed, leaping to the side to catch their crimson blades with each other's, perhaps trying to make a run for the exit, but Fury squeezed both his sabers, exercising the Force on the air around the hybrid, slowing his movement and pulling him back toward their waiting weapons.

At the same time, Diábolis had unleashed the blue-white torrent of sith lightning that he was fond of, and with his back to them, Yihdâ had no choice but to take the blast full on. Snarling angrily as the pain surged through him, the enemy Darksider collapsed to the ground, straining against both other Force wielders in order to return to his feet and escape, but neither were willing to let up for even a moment, content to watch the hybrid thrash on the ground.

Sensing the moment that Calamity destroyed the final foes that he had been pitted against, Fury vigorously ripped the weapon from the hybrid's hand with the Force, leaving Yihdâ at the mercy of Diábolis and his lightning, which the Sith kept focused on his new prisoner until the hybrid finally collapsed, unconscious.

"Beast," the Sith commanded, looking toward Calamity, "take this pathetic traitor, we are returning to the ship where we can interrogate him to our heart's content.

The troll lumbered forward and scooped the much smaller sith hybrid into his massive hands, restraining the unconscious humanoid in the event that Yihdâ regained consciousness.

Fury was only marginally disturbed by the look of eager anticipation on Diábolis' face as they exited the tomb, and loaded their prisoner into a shuttle to return to orbit. There was something just a bit over the top about it, but the Marauder couldn't place exactly what it was that the Sith Lord had in store for their new prisoner. He was willing to guess however, that it would only be starting at where his master was.

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Filius kept one eye trained on the space battle erupting around them, while his attention focused on the stream of communications from the planet's surface, cataloguing their findings and the chatter between the Republic military and their rebellion forces. More shuttles had already been requested and dispatched, the _Pursuit of Justice_ being used as decoy to block the Empire from attacking the shuttles themselves.

Thanks for a bit of clever engineering on the part of Director Granger, and the swell of new tech that she had kept secret over the time they had been in hiding, the Imperial ships had no idea what they were facing.

If he was perfectly honest as well, Filius could guess that these were older models, probably the last of their generations of capital ships, given to wage the prolonged end of the war against the last holdouts of the Republic while the Empire itself progressed onto the newer and more powerful models for keeping the peace.

Typically a clever strategy, but one that would see them fail this day, as the forward lances powered up even as the heavily augmented and upgraded ship pulled into range of the lead Imperial cruiser, which continued to launched fighters and shuttles to try and assault them.

"Fire," Filius said casually, the moment they were in range, and the improved and highly volatile lances erupted from under the ship, arcing out and striking the other capital ship, spaying out across their shields and illuminating the entire vicinity in the golden light.

It seemed that, from the launching of countless shuttles and escape pods that the Empire had perceived something of this nature to happen, but they still were losing an entire ship as the golden lances pierced through the shields, erupting short-lived fire along the hull as they bore straight through the older ship's hull.

"First wave of shuttles returning from the planet, Commander," an officer relayed, and Filius nodded, focusing on the enemy shuttles, many of which were fleeing to the other capital ships, which remained well out of range of their ship-to-ship weaponry, but others, along with fighter escorts, were closing in on them, even while the rebellion's own fighters swarmed toward them to engage.

"Prepare for boarding parties," Filius commanded, his gut telling him that the Empire was planning to launch a surprise attack without even landing a single shuttle. "Seal and partition off the ship, and every crew member ready your weapons," he added.

Drawing his own wand, Filius drew a deep, steadying breath as the imperial shuttles drew near enough for apparation. The tell-tale cracking sound heralded that he was correct in his thoughts, and Filius whirled, throwing a blanket shield across the bridge as blasterfire erupted in their midst.

His officers were ready however, and were not caught off guard, quickly throwing themselves behind cover and returning fire. A trio of spells sent from the dueling champion cut down the largest of their attackers, but Filius had to dodge backward as a torrent of lightning cashed down onto the place where he had stood.

"Once again we meet, Mage-born," the figure said, the sputtering of an igniting lightsaber accompanying the taunt.

Filius remembered this one, only marginally, from the strange shape the blade he wielded, with its small cross guard of additional plasma. Still, this was a danger to their entire operation, and they had little choice but to fight it out, with so many fleeing from the planet to them.

"Kill the traitors!" the Adept shouted, even as he grasped his weapon and charged Filius' position.

Dodging under the screaming blade, Filius felt part of his beard give way, and quickly twisted, apparating himself behind the lines of attacking Imperial commandos.

Not even giving a second thought to the near-death experience he just received, the champion duelist fell into his favored stance, and unleashed a barrage of spells, arcing them widely across the bridge. He trusted that his people would know to stay down, and in that hope he would go all out and attack the enemy, striving to cut down as many of the imperial soldiers as he could for them before being forced by the adept to shift position once more.

The human was already advancing on him again, although a lightning fast shield charm blocking the shimmering red blade bought Filius a few spare moments to fell another trooper, before he was forced to apparate once more to the opposite side of the bridge.

He knew that the adept would catch on to the tactic quickly, on top of combat apparition being very taxing on one as old as he was, so he quickly started to modify his combat strategy.

With half of the invading troopers in the bridge defeated or dead, it would be far easier in he drew the adept away somewhere in the ship, and with the man's determination to attack him alone, that could be something very easy to execute.

Deciding quickly, Filius unleashed a powerful concussion hex at the adept, waiting of the man to intercept the spell with his own skills in the Force, the beam of light colliding heavily with bolts of lightning from the man's hands, connecting them in a battle of strength and will.

But Filius had another plan for the large beam connecting them. Darting to the side, he strafed the entire room, circling around to the exit and dragging the beam along with him. This forced several of the imperial troopers to run, and those who did not were killed between the powerful energies.

Approaching the doors exiting the bridge, Filius wasn't prepared for the beam to suddenly break, the Dark Adept switching tactics and slamming the small wizard in the back with a blast of telekinesis.

Still, even as Filius cushioned the impact with the far wall with a hastily placed charm, this worked in his advantage. The Adept would pursue, and Filius would lead him in a wonderful high speed tour of the ship, simultaneously allowing the bridge to lockdown, as well as countering the other boarding parties wherever they had appeared.

Darting off, aided with magic to maintain a bit of speed over what would definitely be a Force-aided chase, Filius started toward the shield generator, an obvious first target for the boarders to eliminate, the Adept in hot pursuit.

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Veneficus lounged casually on the throne he had placed within the former Jedi Temple, up in the personal mediation chamber he had built out of the old High Council chambers, relishing the power that the former fortress of the light gave so readily to him.

Gor-lak was off pursuing his prey, while Diábolis was far from the palace, and Veneficus, following the rebellious adepts of a sith best long forgotten.

"Skarok-Nur won't give up so easily," the specter of Ludo Kreesh stated, even as he stood among the other ancient Sith spirits that Veneficus had bound to him for the pursuit of power.

"I am counting on it…" Veneficus replied, allowing the strength of the Dark Side to flow around him, granting him sight beyond sight into both present and future. "With his servants hunted and countered at every turn, outmaneuvered by the empire he so ridiculously tried to challenge, he will have no choice but to come, in person, and challenge me directly."

"And then," Naga Sadow added, his form shimmering in the pale dawn over Coruscant through the large windows that overlooked the city around the Imperial Palace, "he will fall to the collective might of his betters."

"Yes…" Veneficus hissed, seeing the very threads of fate and inevitable destiny that would carry the sith hybrid to confront him in due time. The outcome of the battle was certain, but the ramifications and aftermath could be disputed.

"The real problem would be what our other enemies do in the time they have been given while you deal with this invasion…" Millannial said, "even now they are strengthening their hold on the galaxy, little by little, and if they are not found and destroyed they may pose a threat to your rule, immortality or not…"

"That I will not allow to happen," Veneficus seethed, growing weary of his old Master's tone of incredulous superiority. "Granger has never been greater than I, nor would any of the remaining Jedi match their skill again me." Holding out his hands, in vision he saw the unknown world that they had claimed, and he crushed it between his palms, "I will root them out and eliminate them, either one by one or all at once, it matters not…"

But even as he withdrew his hands, a fragment of the planet seemed to impale his left, not causing pain but a strange sense of unease. "You must be watchful for the hidden thorn within this rebellion," Darth Bane concluded, the usually silent propagator of the Rule of Two adding his thoughts.

"I have made no mistakes," Veneficus declared, but even as he did so he considered the truth of his own words.

Every step had been carefully considered since the toppling of the Republic, and while these rebels had slipped so easily around his grasping nets and snares, their luck would run out eventually. Gor-lak had gifts and power tailors to seeking out magic users, and while the main portion of their base was hidden from sight, likely behind powerful wards somewhere in the Outer Rim, he had spies working dutifully to find their stronghold, eliminating planet after planet from their search, narrowing the possibilities down to a limited number.

It wouldn't be long before they were in his grasp once more, and the last light in the galaxy would be snuffed out forever.

Exiting his deep meditation, Veneficus arose, his mind already working on how best to influence the future that he desired. From sith texts that dated as far back as the early exiles from Tython, he knew of ways and abilities that would increase the power of the Dark Side in the universe, but they typically required bloody sacrifice of his own enemies, the Jedi.

Idly, he wondered if any Force sensitive that was his enemy would suffice, but even without the power contributed by the transcendence of a wielder back into the Force itself, there were means and methods to consider.

Down in the bowels of the palace, deeper than even the holocron vault but not quite to the catacombs that Zychre patrolled and guarded, Veneficus had prepared a place for such spells and rituals, so very close to the dark heart of the old sith shrine that the Jedi Temple was built over, attempting and failing to hide the Dark Side in their own midst.

There he had carved, using the Wild Force, a perfect replica of the ancient sith altars, with runes in the old language for the express purpose of channeling the power of the Dark Side.

Standing over altar, Veneficus raised his arms, allowing the flames of the various torches and braziers to dim. " _S'dies laikas manti, fasona savimi kvailas, fasona savimi neviz_!" he intoned, using the Force to guide the water in the altar's basin into a swirling, black whirlpool.

" _S'dies laikas manti, fasona savimi kvailas, fasona savimi neviz_!" he repeated, even as the water began to churn of its own accord, respondiung to the power of his words.

Lightning flashed from Veneficus' fingers, a staple to every true sith ritual, " _Nesti savimi kia nun! Nesti savimi kia nun!_ " he commanded, pushing into the water his hatred of all his foes: the Jedi, the rebels, and the followers of Ludo Kreesh.

The water began to fizzle and smoke, fumes rising to join the dusty air of the chamber, even as the pool of water shone with its own eerie blue light, reflective of the lightning now surging within it.

Bringing his entire considerable will to bear, Veneficus leaned forward toward the water, hoping to catch even the tiniest glimpse of his enemies' plans, and witness firsthand them be frustrated by his spell, and the strength of the Dark Side that rested within him.

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Kelrek snarled as he charged through the ship, pushing his Force-aided limbs to their swiftest in pursuit of Flitwick. The diminutive Mage-born had slipped away from him, and nearly effortlessly eliminated the entire assault of the bridge, rendering the main objective of their attack mute.

But the Sorcerer's personal goal of retribution for his previous humiliation at the hands of the former Republic general would go on, even as his other troops surged through the ship, targeting the various systems that would destroy the ship and thereby crush the rebels in this sector.

Wheeling around another corner, his cross guard saber snapped upward as the tiny man threw spells at him, clearly having waited in ambush for Kelrek to catch up to him, before splitting into three exact images of himself and speeding down different corridors in the attempt to confusing the Force user.

Not that the attempt would work, as Kelrek felt the for the Living Force within the real Flitwick, which was devoid amid the Wild energy that created the illusions. Choosing the path to the right, Kelrek continued after the wily commander.

The next room he entered was a disaster. Flitwick had already charged through, his spells flying in every direction at the Imperial soldiers that had attacked here, in the efforts to take out the shield generator, and they had been pushed back, allowing the rebel fighters to regain ground and start to fight back.

Kelrek was immediately set upon by a trio of blaster shots just for entering, and his saber flew into action, the Force keeping track of his prey, even as the sorcerer started through the room as a quick pace. His soldiers were better equipped than the rebels, and therefore should have had no trouble retaking the room without him, and therefore Kelrek cut down only those that stood in his way from following their leader.

On and on the chase continued through the corridors of the ship, and room after room Kelrek quickly started to piece together the tiny mage-born's plan. He was striking personally at every point of attack that his soldiers had made, trying to beat back their advance through his ship and stall for time.

They had slowed him down, only somewhat, but by the time that Kelrek entered a large hanger, where the fighters were berthed, he had finally managed to catch up with his adversary. The large number of troopers that had been sent to attack here was proof of their skill, as event he small commander was having difficulty in defeating and killing them, so protected from magical attacks as these were.

Leaping forward eagerly for the kill, Kelrek nearly missed abrupt turn of the small magical commander, even as Flitwick whirled on him and let loose a stream of fire. Even with his split-second dodge, Kelrek was forces top throw his cloak aside, the charring remains of the mesh-weave cloth succumbing to the flames.

Saber in both hands, he advanced slowly, looking for an opening to allow him to get in range of Flitwick, but the small mage had no intentions of allowing that. Spells streamed from his wand, and only a stead movement of defense from Kelrek was allowing him the time to even think of a way to attack.

Glancing to the side, he spotted a large cargo container, and hastily reached to it with the Force, allowing his saber to take a heavier brunt of the spells that came for him.

Heaving with his strength, Kelrek sent the container flying at his enemy, rejoicing inwardly as the little man disappeared under the massive wield of the cargo storage. It was short lived; however, as Kelrek turned to find Flitwick dusting off his hat several yards behind him, having teleported out of the way at the last moment. They squared off once more, and Kelrek sensed that the mage-born was finally growing weary of all his tricks, and was about to fight for real. Kelrek would happily oblige in kind to the small commander, and held his weapon at the ready

 _S'dies laikas manti, fasona savimi kvailas, fasona savimi neviz! : reveal enemy plan, make them foolish, make them fail!_

 _Nesti savimi kia nun! : bring them to me!_


	11. C10: Advance and Retreat

**Here we are, once again, on the bi-weekly schedule of OAC... Yay! Thanks to those who've reviewed the previous chapter, and please, enjoy the next! ~F**

 **Chapter Ten**

 **Advance and Retreat**

Fury watched through a protective viewing screen as Yihdâ, the half-sith apprentice of Skarok-Nur slowly returned to consciousness, even as Lord Diábolis entered the prison chamber of the ship where the rogue sith was held.

"Finally awake I see," the Devaronian said leisurely, taking his time as he drew out the interrogation, "excellent. We can begin quickly then…"

Fury could see that despite Yihdâ's apparent look of defiance, there was a touch of true fear lingering as he tested the strength of the restrains holding him flat to a metal slab while the Sith Apprentice walked slowly around him.

"Your people decried the superiority of the sith-hybrids over other races, and their ability to channel and endure the Dark Side," Diábolis stated, slowly turning to face the bound figure, "if you don't wish to truly find out the limits of your supposed endurance, I would suggest you tell me everything I wish to know…"

"You will get nothing from me!" Yihdâ sneered in retort, but immediately regretted it as the Devaronian lashed out with bolts of blue-white sith lightning.

The light flashed off the screen spectacularly, and Fury had to turn away momentarily to avoid being blinded by the glare. Their captive held on surprisingly well, merely grunting as the painful bolts of lightning splayed across his form.

"Your stronger than I gave you credit," Diábolis stated, examining how his victim had hardly reacted, "but no matter… no matter… we have all the time we need as we return to Coruscant…"

"Coruscant," the prisoner replied, showing genuine fear at the thought of the Sith master waiting for them back at the Imperial Palace.

Diábolis smirked, "Yes, Coruscant… whatever you do not tell me, my master will extract from you before you're reduced to a gibbering mass that will not live much past that point…"

"You're lying!" Yihdâ retorted, even as his voice quaked audibly.

"We shall see, until then shall we resume?" Diábolis retorted, electricity jumping between his fingers as he approached once more.

Fury was finished however, turning his back on the screen as it lit up once more with flashes of light. Diábolis was not lying, as they had been summoned to bring their prisoner back to the Emperor, and to make sure that he was alive and in one piece for the Sith Lord to interrogate.

Personally, Fury felt only a small amount of pity for the fool that would end up being used as nothing more than a tool to lure his master into the open, and then discarded in the most brutal manner.

In the meantime as they sailed through Hyperspace toward the center of the Galaxy, he was already planning his next personal move. Diábolis had given him the orders to keep on the movements of the rebels as they took care of these rogue Darksiders, as well as keeping an eye on the movements of the military of the Empire.

Why the Sith Apprentice wanted that, Fury was not thoroughly sure, but he would do so regardless, as Diábolis spoke with the voice and authority of the Emperor. The fact that Fury knew that the Sith existed to betray and kill each other was not foreign to him, having learned these lessons so long ago at the knee of the Jedi teachers.

From that information, he could guess that each Sith Lord wished to use Fury against the other, and regardless of his own usefulness as a tool to them, he had a measure of power decided and aiding the one that may end up the victor of their personal shadow war.

It was an interesting position, and one that the Marauder was not certain of the outcome, but he intended to enjoy each moment of it, spurring his own glory along in the process. He held no imaginings that he was strong or wise enough to overthrow either of the Sith, it was clear long ago that he had his limits in strength and power, and while he still strove to break those chains, he would never catch up to the likes of Veneficus and Diábolis in any lifetime.

Still, he had his goals, and Calamity was not part of that. The troll had grown from the experience of battle, and taken a new effort in increasing his connection to the Dark Side, as well as his combat agility, which for the massive creature would be a feat of the greatest strengths.

Nevertheless, Fury had to take his time to encourage the troll as he could, and that was his intended destination even now. The massive training room on Lord Diábolis' ship had been opened to them, and he had set the droids within to train his apprentice for the time that Fury had overseen the beginning of their prisoner's interrogation.

Arriving back at that room however, Fury was surprised to find a great deal of metallic wreckage, the Troll lumbering around as more droids appeared, blasters and sabers ready and attacking.

For a long moment, Fury just watched as the troll leapt through the air, landing heavily with a crash on top of several blaster-wielding droids, his massive lightclub sweeping out to catch several approaching droids, cutting a few in pieces and knocking the few that blocked backward.

It was eerie, as Fury knew what grace and prowess in battle was supposed to look like, but the troll had a manner and style all his own, determined and required to accommodate the troll's size and bulk.

It was something almost glorious to behold in and of itself. Nothing that Fury would ever attempt to use himself, but he decided right then and there that all Calamity needed was to learn the basics of Djem-So, and adapt it to his unique circumstances on his own, and the rest would flow.

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Feyd watched the forces of the Empire sweep through the city according to his plan, routing the imposters from their streets and driving them out of the residential zones without mercy. There would be a great deal of repairs and sorrow for the populace after this, but they had their lives, for the most part, and they knew that their government would stop at nothing to protect them when they were under attack.

However, the power grid was still a location of heavy fighting, which was why the Supreme Prophet had taken a collective group of soldiers and Adepts to flush out the fools that thought they could cripple the capital of their enemies so easily.

Landing just outside the massive building, Feyd ordered the soldiers into three squads. One would secure the perimeter and drive away the guards of their enemies, while the other two would head into the structure, locating and securing each massive generator that powered the entire city.

If they failed here, there would be major setbacks in bringing the city back under control, as well as defending it from the encroaching jungle or other intrusion, which Feyd was certain, was the plan of these black lightsaber wielding fanatics.

Therefore, he unleashed the full might of his dominance over the Dark Side upon every knot of foes that they found, without mercy or remorse for the deaths that he caused, or that his warriors caused under his command. These enemies of the state would suffer his wrath, and by extension that of the Emperor.

That power carried him through the complex, carving a path through droids, corrupted soldiers and what few cloaked saber wielders he found, until he felt a distinct change in the Force. There were others among the troops that he butchered, the actual workers of the plant, and from what living ones he encountered, he could sense a certain amount of persuasion guiding their tasks as they started to sabotage the plant where they had worked, as well as fought against the Imperials that came to stop them.

"The fools, they even took command of our own people to do their dirty work," he seethed to the commander of the troopers.

"What are your orders Supreme Prophet?" the man replied, clearly hoping that there was away to spare their own citizens.

"We have no choice but to kill everyone in our way," Feyd ordered, shattering the hope, "they will resist us even if the Force users who control them die, and we cannot afford for this generator to be disabled. There are far too many more lives depending on its power than those here."

"I… I understand, my Lord," the commander said, turning and giving the word for his troopers to shoot on sight rather than subdue anyone of Imperial citizenry.

It was a hard choice for the man, Feyd knew this, but loyalty to the Empire was prided far more than courage or morality in war, and that was exactly what this situation had devolved into.

Finally, they managed to push to the massive control room for one of the pair of massive generators, where the heaviest resistance was kept. The engineers were still at work tearing apart the systems and hacking into the power grid to cause a city wide surge of power, which would kill many, as well as leave the rest without power for days.

Guarding them were half a dozen troopers, and a handful of black cloaked Force users. Feyd wasted no time ordering his force to attack, and leapt at the enemy lightsaber wielders with rage in his heart, crimson blade flashing in his haste to engage them and pull the leaders away from their hostages so that the troopers could open fire without worry.

Each of the combatants he faced were significantly more skilled than the guards he had encountered previously, but in the face of a true master over the Dark Side, these fools failed to challenge him. They're only saving grace were their numbers. Feyd was prevented a killing blow several times purely by being forced to withdraw his saber for a hasty block.

Soon enough however, their plans were frustrated as a grenade from his own people detonated, throwing static electricity across the room and shutting down temporarily all electronics in the area, including blasters and lightsabers. Then Feyd was truly in his element.

Harnessing the raw power of the Dark Side, he started to hurl his enemies bodily across the room with telekinesis, their own meager shields doing little to prevent his power from taking command of their forms against their will.

His troopers charged in, fists and feet flailing as they subdued every being that they encountered, and even though he had ordered death for these fools, soon enough they had a large collection of unconscious prisoners for their disposal once electronic power returned.

Throwing all the Force wielders into a large pile on the ground, Feyd tore into them with lightning, frying the whole lot of his foes all at once, giving in further and further to the mad callings of the Dark Side as he enacted his vengeance in behalf fo the people of New Kaas City.

Soon enough, the quivering mass lay still, smoking still from their deaths in a most excruciating manner, and they had command of the room. "My Lord, the generator is secure," a trooper stated, approaching Feyd.

"It's status?" he asked, momentarily fearing that the fight had damaged it beyond repair.

"It appears stable, if not functioning for the moment, with a bit of work we'll have it up and running within the hour," the trooper replied, even as their engineers entered the room and got to work immediately.

"Good, carry on," Feyd said, dismissing the trooper and turning toward an empty holographic display. He quickly typed out several commands, pulling up the display of the local area around the generators, as well as positions of those groups on the same Imperial frequencies.

Throughout the city platoons were pushing toward the entrance of the city, predictably herding out the last remnant of their enemies from the streets, while even more were already surging into the jungle to press back to their landing zone.

"Lord Zhar, this is Supreme Prophet Feyd, come in," he stated, quickly pulling up a communication to the High Prophet.

"I hear you," Zhar replied, seemingly annoyed at the interruption in whatever activity he was currently engaged in.

"The city will soon be cleared; I hope that your forces are prepared to receive these fools as they flee to attempt to escape our wrath." He informed the other high ranking Adept.

"We are more than prepared; they will find amply reception once they arrive…" Zhar replied swiftly, growing more annoyed that he was being questioned regarding his preparedness for their influx of enemy troopers arriving soon.

"Good, we will be cashing them directly to you, expect us within the hour." Feyd said, understanding that the other man was completely uninterested in the update or the fact that the Supreme Prophet was going to steal what thunder he had claimed.

Nevertheless, Feyd would do as he saw fit, this world was his to govern, and therefore any triumph upon its surface was his to claim.

"I am leaving," he announced to the room at large, "continue with repairing the generator, I expect it to be online within the hour."

"Yes, my Lord," the officer in charge responded, even as he took to the streets once more, heaving for the shuttles already landing from the Imperial palace with his fresh platoon of troops to harass their fleeing enemies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist was in conference with the other Jedi across Ord Mantell.

Overall, their mission had been successful; the leadership of the Republic remnant military was in agreement that their situation was dire, and that withdrawing to a different planet and regrouping was better than dying against the overwhelming force of the Empire.

The problem they had now was that in orbit, the _Pursuit of Justice_ was under heavy attack, and it wasn't safe for their shuttles to try and return to ship. They had also had no word from Commander Flitwick, So Ist had a bad feeling that something might be terribly wrong.

"Master Jedi, we're receiving word that the enemy is advancing once more, what do you suggest?" an officer asked, approaching the portable holographic device that she was viewing, where Knights Dyz and Doususo were going over their options together.

"It seems we have little choice but to go to ground, vanish for a time until we can take to orbit and get back to the ship." Dyz said, the Quarren turning his tentacle-covered head slightly as an explosion sounded in the distance on his end.

"The fighters here are stubbornly wanting to make a break to space to join with the _Pursuit of Justice_ regardless, but if you feel that waiting for a better opportunity is in order, then you are free to do so," the Dug Jedi, Bagrax Doususo, said, "I will be doing what I can to protect these soldiers as we try to support Commander Flitwick and whatever difficulties he is facing in orbit."

"Understood," Ist said, nodding. "We will provide what ground support we can so that you can escape the atmosphere then, before going to ground and waiting out the space battle." She said with a glance toward the officer who stood nearby, looking nervous.

"We need to get moving before the Empire breaks through the last of our defenses," she said, turning off the communicator as the others nodded their understanding.

"I still disagree with this plan to simply hide on world, our shuttles are capable of light speed on their own if needed." Ist said as she turned and walked with the officer toward the main section of their temporary camp.

"I cannot help that command refuses to give up the planet so easily," the officer replied sheepishly.

It was part of an ever complicating issue that Ist had found very quickly once they made contact with the leader of the Republic factions.

What had once started as a unified resistance against the Empire from the former Republic military had fragmented into several factions, each loyal to their leaders alone and not the ideals that they once stood for.

A few, like those that were currently with Knight Doususo, were more sympathetic to the ideas that the Jedi had brought with them and the resistance, that they needed to pull up and start again elsewhere, but Ist had landed near one fo the more stubborn of the leaders, who wouldn't give up Ord Mantell, even though the man himself had yet to speak directly with Ist, or so much as reveal his name to her.

It was decidedly odd that for a man of great honor that could command so many, that the Republic leader was acting with such cowardice in the face of a possible escape to fight another day.

Still, they had a job to do, and for the sake of saving as many innocent lives, and soldiers of the old Republic, that they could in the process. "Very well, let's move out," Ist said, more to herself than the soldiers that assembled as she approached.

The officer spread the word of their assignment, and the troopers were justifiably not pleased, as many were of the same mind as the Jedi on the matter, but they obey their commander, trusting in his plan to work out in the grander scheme, and piled into their light vehicles and took to the north, away from the advancing crash of Imperial walkers, and toward where a prime outpost was located with heavy anti-air turrets.

If they could take and hold that position for a time, it would open a clear window for the shuttles to escape the planet, and perhaps more to come for them later on, but it would be difficult, as the place was located nearby to a large Imperial troop station, and unless they took it with perfect stealth, the base would overrun them within hours.

The commander had sent them a plan, as well as the schematics of the outpost, down to the last detail of where they needed to attack to breach the security with the least amount of damage to the fortifications that they would have to repurpose and defend themselves.

Ist worried, even as they started with all haste toward the outpost, that even if they did succeed, that it wouldn't take long for the Imperials to notice that one of their stations had stopped firing, and send troopers to investigate.

From the lead vehicle, Ist spotted Jedi Shadow Guesto leap from the vehicle, dashing forward alongside the road for a few paces, before leaping down to the next switchback, even as they arrived at the crest of a ridge that led down to the location of the outpost.

The plan was fairly straightforward: Shadow Guesto would use his abilities as a Clawdite changling to impersonate a guard and bypass the security on the outside, opening the way for them to drive their vehicles straight inside, while disabling what defenses he could, temporarily. Once they all managed to slip inside, they would take command, eliminate the guards and reprogram the automated defenses, holding out while they could and broadcasting the all-clear sign for the shuttles to get the others off world.

Straightforward, but unclear enough for there to be plenty of disabling contingencies, and far too much reliance on the Jedi, as far as Ist was concerned, but they did what they had to for the time being.

Watching through a pair of magnifying field lenses, Ist saw as the Jedi Shadow made his way carefully through the outcroppings of rock toward the base, subduing a patrolling trooper on the way and shifting to look like the same being.

Continuing the patrol route as though nothing was amiss, Shadow Guesto casually kept his comm. Open so that Ist and the other lead officers could hear everything that happened around him, although it was muted so that they could not broadcast on his end and accidentally give him away.

"Trooper 1-46883 returning from patrol," he said, clearly using the identity code of the man whom the Jedi was impersonating, "requesting permission to reenter."

"Permission granted," the trooper in charge of the gate said, almost lazily, even as he touched a switch on his arm, which had the energy field barring entry disperse for a time.

"And now we wait," Ist said, even as Shadow Guesto vanished from sight into the base.

For a long time they heard nothing but the clank of boots on metal, as the Jedi Shadow walked through the base, speaking to no one and overhearing little, aside from side conversation between troopers and what civilian technicians that they had working in the outpost.

"We need to make sure to free those who are working under duress," the officer in charge of the platoon said, and Ist nodded in agreement, still focusing on the transmission, straining to hear even the slightest noise in order to know what was going on inside the building.

"I've reached the power generators…" Guesto said quietly, and Ist grimaced at the progress that their seemingly hasty plan was moving at. They had devised that Guesto would sabotage the primary generator, which controlled the gate as well as most of the outside lighting, while simultaneous putting a jammer hooked into the backup generator, so that the moment it kicked on the communications out of the outpost would go down, hopefully long enough for them to storm the outpost and take it, but not long enough for anyone outside to wonder what was going on outside of a sudden power loss.

It was a tense sort of wait, where Ist could feel the Force coiling about her in apprehension, watching the base for the first sign of the loss of power.

"Jamming system attached, going to cut primary power now," Guesto said, "prepare for loss of communication, and I'll see you when you get here…"

There was another moment of silence, followed by the ignition of a lightsaber, and Ist, watching through her scope, saw all the lights in the base cut out.

"Go!" she said, and quickly the vehicle convoy started forward onto the switchback at full speed, forcing the Bothan Jedi to sit ot lose her balance, even aided with the Force. A moment later, the lights within the building returned, a deep red of emergence lighting, and the communication burst into static as the jammer activated, prevent all communications within the outpost from escaping.

"We're on the clock people, let's get in and take that outpost quick!" the commanding officer shouted, even as several troopers stood in the light vehicle, bracing themselves against railings and seats, in order to properly aim their missile launchers at the front gates, where Imperial troops were scrambling to prevent their approach.

Fortunately, their aim was true, and the missiles rocketed away, the jets of propellant creating distracting spirals as the ordinance careened toward their destination. They slammed into the ground just short of the gate, sending up a hail of dirt and stone, which caused the front line of guards to flinch away at the last moment.

The vehicles did not stop however, and bowled a few of the recoiling guards over as the sped past into the outpost grounds, the occupants ducking to avoid a few stray blaster shots once the guards recovered from the blast.

Leaping from the lead transport, Ist ignited her saber, and steeled herself for yet another desperate fight. Their teams were already decided upon, and she would be claiming the grounds with less than half of the troopers, while the rest stormed inside, escorting their technicians and meeting up with Shadow Guesto to take command of the gunnery.

However, none of them were prepared when a massive alarm started to ring out, seeming to bypass even the jamming and ring through the lowered valley that the gun emplacement was hidden within.

Several of the troopers cursed loudly, and Ist couldn't blame them for their anger. There was no chance that the troop garrison did not hear that alarm, and were mobilizing to defend the outpost even now, putting an even tighter bind on their timetable.

"We need those shuttles in the air now!" an officer was shouting into his communicator, clearly speaking with the other forces who were preparing to evacuate the planet, and Ist moved to deflect a stray shot that was heading at the man, who flinched at the sudden movement but nodded his thanks to the Bothan before returning to his hasty conversation.

Turning to join the line of troopers who were huddled behind the vehicles, holding off the last few Imperials outside while they waited for the power to return to the gate, Ist found many of them turning to her. "Do you think we'll survive, Master Jedi?" one brave trooper asked, his helmet obscuring Ist's vision of the man's face, but the tension in the human's voice was unmistakable.

"Force willing, we'll all make it out of this…" she replied quickly, knowing that her words would be hollow, considering what they were about to face.

But face it they would, as any good soldier of the old Republic, and if a way presented itself for them to escape alive, Ist hoped that many would be willing to take it, rather than the death that awaited them otherwise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zhar snarled as another pair of black armored troopers appeared from the trees, firing like mad to try and break through his lines to their precious shuttles. Batting the bolts aside with a vicious sweep of his blade, Zhar smirked at how his plan was working too well.

He had left a few of the shuttles intact, just as bait to lure their enemy to their own deaths, but unbeknownst to their foes, the shuttles were inoperable, simply standing there idle, with most of the guns from the _Basilisk_ overhead aimed straight down upon them just in case some engineer managed to get to them and reroute the power.

Although, that was unlikely, the High Prophet mused, even as he slew another pair of soldiers, ripping them from their cover with the Force and impaling the pair with a single stab of his crimson saber.

But, of course, Supreme Prophet Feyd had to boldly announce the plan to Zhar, even though the other Council member was more than aware, and had in fact created part of it himself. Just arrogant enough to establish the fact that he, Feyd, and not Zhar, would be claiming the credit for saving the capital of the Empire for all the populace to fawn and adore.

But that was fine, Zhar did not care for the accolades of the people of the Empire, and the less in view of the Emperor that he and his apprentice were, the better. In the long run, it would be he and Euka, not Feyd, that would topple Veneficus' plans for the Galaxy, to run it into the ground, and settle the Empire into its perfect working order.

But now was not the time for such thoughts, not with the forest now crawling with black lightsaber wielding maniacs and their Force-commanded underlings willing to fight and die for a master that had, as far as Zhar understood, never bothered to even reveal himself as of yet to anyone.

It was a strange and odd tactic of the Sith, one that he had read about but not quite understood. The idea that Sith of equal ranking would fight each other, not one on one as combatants, but through proxies and by means of their underlings, was astoundingly self-centered, and utterly prideful.

Granted, he ought to have expected such a thing, given the radical changes he himself had witnessed in Veneficus over the decades, but to see it in another Sith so arrogantly thrust into their view and openly challenging their Emperor, albeit unseen and unknown in the process, was astounding.

Was it not clear, even upon this battlefield, that the Emperor's forces were more than a match against this fool of a foe? What could be hoped to gain, even if this Skarok-Nur managed to take one world, when Veneficus ruled the majority of the Galaxy, and managed the affairs of his Empire from multiple locations at once, with a government that spanned the whole of the central portion of Sith Space.

And it was true, not only did Supreme Prophet Feyd have his own apprentice to take his place should he die, but if the pair of them were eliminated, an entire set or orders were in place for another planet's High Prophet to ascend, once a replacement for that planet's leadership was selected.

The government of Veneficus was very thought out and meticulous in its redundancy, not that any of the Dark Council truly hoped it would have to be put into use… yet. But the fact remained that the Empire had to outnumber these others at least five to one in terms of Force users alone, so what did the half-sith Darksider think to accomplish by attacking them here?

Even as Zhar redirected a missile with the Force, he widened his eyes in realization. Skarok-Nur wasn't fighting by the rules of honorable combat between two powerful Sith. Therefore, if he was expending his troops in such a wasteful manner, then he was likely trying to eliminate the Emperor directly, through assassination or through a challenge for his power.

Whether the Emperor fell or not was not a concern to Zhar, as it was unlikely that such a force of nature as Veneficus would go down without taking half of the Galaxy with him, but the importance of this realization was that, in the meantime, he would be blind to the movement of the Empire, and those within it.

Therefore, Zhar and Euka could progress their movements to prepare an escape from Veneficus when the madman finally snapped and went on a rampage throughout the galaxy on his own followers. Unfortunately, they were likely to be prevented from enacting any of their plans as of yet, due to the battle here on Dromund Kaas, as well as any number of other things that the Dark Council will demand of them, but inevitably they would have time to go about with their own scheme.

Pushing his thoughts aside for the time, Zhar refocused on the task at hand, with energy now devote to ending it as swiftly as possible, and he launched himself forward to the line of trees and foliage around the clearing, cutting down everything that moved toward the landing platform without mercy.

The fools thought that they could use their numbers to any sort of effect in the jungle, and they were supremely wrong on that account. The foliage on Dromund Kaas was thick, and deliberately left that way so that any army moving on the ground was hindered and forces to fracture in order to pass the terrain; the perfect defense for the capital of the Sith.

Therefore, they were forced to emerge to their precious landing platform in ragtag groups less than twenty strong at a time, only to be met by barrages of blaster fire from the troops that Zhar had called down, with more reinforcements being brought in from orbit as the fighting intensified.

Even the black lightsber wielding adepts were of little use, as Zhar had arrayed his forced well away from the woods, and only the strongest adepts were permitted to venture out and attack, which made the line between his troopers and the trees into the perfect killing grounds.

That was until the vehicles started to appear. Ancient things, but still functional, the tanks and hover-vehicles navigated the undergrowth well, and swept out onto the open grasses, nimbly dodging the obstacles and opening fire upon Zhar's forces.

The High Prophet started toward them, intent on shattering the rusty contraptions, but a cry from behind him spun the human around, as a massive, hulking monstrocity lumbered forward, a double bladed jet black saber clutched in its grasp.

The black body armor and helmet shrouded any feature that the massive figure held, but it could have been a droid for all Zhar cared, even as he dodged backward of a massive overhead strike, which severed a fallen tree into pieces with its passing.

The tanks would have to wait. Zhar leapt back into combat, his saber weaving a powerful dance of destruction, Djem-So matching well against the brute's physical strength, even as the far larger being, about half the size of a troll, executed a highly rough version of Juyo.

Sparks flew at the two blades collided again and again, Zhar reeling back often with his age and less than kept up skill in bladework starting to show against the far stronger opponent.

How he wished that Euka was there at his side, her finesse and agility working so well when paired with his straightforward attacks. Alas, he was alone, and had to rely on other skills to see him through this fight now.

He blocked another strike, and that was a mistake. The strength behind him threw him from his feet. He flew back twenty feet and struck a tree trunk, and even cushioned by the Force it still hurt quite a lot. Zhar fell to the base, his weapon still help loosely in his hand, even as the giant figure charge, double ended weapon swinging high overhead.

"Enough of this!" Zhar cried, throwing all his strength into a telekinetic shove, making the hulking figure stumble and skip to a halt, the massive creature physical strength seemingly matched with Zhar's command over the Dark Side.

It was impressive to say the least, but not enough by Zhar's standards. The beast was little more than a hammer; a blunt instrument meant to destroy but never craft, much like Fury when he was newly formed into a weapon for their Sith Masters. Unlike his first apprentice; however, this one would never know refinement, as Zhar dodged to the right, slamming his telekinesis upward and allowing the brute to surge forward once more.

The head reared back, even as the figure crashed into the tree bodily, not expecting the resistance to dissipate so quickly. And that was when Zhar struck, leaping into the air and plunging his saber into the upper back armor plate of the monstrous figure while it was stunned.

The being screamed in agony, dashing the thought of it being a droid instantly, and flailed for a time before sagging to its knees, even as the last of its lifeforce drained away in death. Zhar sighed heavily, unhappy about the energy he had had to use to defeat such a foe, and turned back to the tanks assaulting his line of troopers.

They had held out for the time needed, and he rushed back to aid them. Although winded, Zhar coacked back his arm and threw his saber forward with all his remaining strength, before sprinting after it.

The crimson blade spun in a tight spiraling arc, directed by the Force to scathe through the lines of troopers rushing to back up their tanks, and sliced right through the rusted armor of the nearest one, causing a glorious explosion, before zooming back to Zhar's hand, even as he launched himself into the arm.

The enemy did not have a chance to turn and face him, even as he landed in their midst, plunging his saber into the ground and channeling the Dark Side into the weapon, allowing lightning to surge up all around him. The troopers all cried out in sudden surprise and pain as they collapsed in the explosion of electrical torrents, allowing Zhar to rise and face the next knot of soldiers head on.

Several of Gaze Squadron flew overhead just then, laser fire decimating the ranks of troopers just arriving at the treeline, and rupturing another set of vehicles, and to that backdrop Zhar charged, his gleaming blade reflecting the bolts thrown by his enemies as he closed the distance between himself and them.

Muscles screaming for relief, Zhar denied them, allowing the hatred of the Dark Side to flow freely through his body, jumping and twisting to the side to cut down another trooper that stood in his way, before snapping a high kick to the helmet of a second, stunning the being and sending them sprawling back.

The foolish pawns of the Empire's enemies would learn true fear at this point, even as the High Prophet of Korriban bore down upon them, blade and raw strength in the Dark Side countering their efforts to survive. Zhar picked the troopers off one at a time, conserving his energy so that he could recover from the effort he had had to use in defeating the behemoth earlier, but through the Force he could sense that reinforcements at last were nearly there, which would allow him a reprieve as others took his place in the no man's land.

Indeed, as he cut down the last of the troopers that had come with their vehicles, he turned to see Euka flying out of the trees, the apprentice of Feyd at her side, and several armored Force users pursuing them, their black blades cutting a path through the foliage.

Where and how the two had gotten ahead of not only their own contingents, but intercepted a large group of enemy Force users together was anyone's guess, but Zhar was not in the mood to ponder reasoning at the moment.

Striding forward with determined steps, he batted aside a pair of stray blaster shots, before quickly returning his saber to the ready position, even as he marched toward the new arrivals, eyes set grimly on the black armored helmets of the other adepts.

There would be no survival for any of these traitors; Zhar would make sure of it.


	12. C11: Ord Mantell Pushback

**Many thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter. Creative inspiration continues to freely flow for every story, as well as other projects that are less of a fanfiction nature. please R &R, and enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Eleven**

 **Ord Mantell Pushback**

Filius' mind spun madly as he raced through the corridors of the _Pursuit of Justice_ , narrowly avoiding the pursuing Dark Adept, who seemed more than hell bent on the Charms Master's personal destruction.

Oh yes, Filius remembered this one, from the battles around the southern part of the Core, which turned out to have been more vital than they seemed at that time, as dear sweet Luna had planned so thoroughly for their forces to flee to the south, and Filius without knowing it had cleared the way for their escape from imminent destruct at the hands of Harry Potter, now the Emperor Darth Veneficus.

This powerful being with the Force was a sight to behold, crashing through ranks of hastily preparing troopers that had remained on the ship to protect them from boarders. Filius was scrambling to formulate a plan to remove this dangerous one from his ship, but with them both being so swiftly moving through the ship, there wasn't time to accurately think of and initiate a plan.

That was, unless…

With a generous flick of his wand, Filius took to the air, soaring over the helmets of Imperial and rebellion troopers alike as he veered to another corridor, which he knew led to a dead end and a munitions locker, a new plan already forming as he went. With the extra speed on not having to turn or dodge, he had all the time he needed to outpace the Adept and work out the potential pitfalls in his plan to remove the man from Filius' ship.

Zooming through the last door, he quickly hit the door with a sealing charm, buying himself several more moments, which he used wisely to summon and start enchanting a random object, which turned out to be a scope off a blaster rifle.

A crimson blade plunged through the door behind him, but Filius paid it no mind, knowing that there was still precious moments before the Adept actually could enter, in which he started to throw shielding and rebuffing charms around the room, making absolutely certain that none of the ordinance in the room could be disturbed by what was about to transpire here.

When he had finished, he turned and watched as the saber withdrew from the outlined door, and the entire thing fell inward, the metal clanging heavily on the deck of the ship.

"The chase ends here, small one," the Adept said snidely, strutting in and readying his weapon.

"Oh, I most certainly agree that that is the case," Filius replied, already moving his wand to unleash a barrage of spells at the man, slowly dodging to the left in a circle as they were deflected back at him. The Adept could tell a tickling jinx from the killing curse most likely, and wouldn't know that everything that Filius shot at him was actually quite harmless, the diminutive Commander knowing that it was heavily unlikely that he would slip in a spell that would connect in one-on-one combat.

However, the tactic served its purpose, allowing Filius to move toward the entrance of the room, and therefore cutting off the chance of the Dark Adept escaping. Granted, a captive  
Force user was the most dangerous kind, and it was clear that the human was well aware of the situation, although possibly felt that Filius was planning to escape once again.

Regardless, that made Filius job slightly easier, as the Adept pressed forward, trying to push through the storm of spells and attack with his deadly red weapon.

Still, Filius used the sudden charging attack to dodge under the man, taking the scope and planting it directly on the chest of the Force user, who twisted to try and avoid contact but wasn't fast enough. The Portkey activated, and Filius released it just in time to avoid going along for the ride.

He did however; follow the same path with his own apparition, landing gently outside the escape pod where the Portkey had dumped the Force user. Swiftly, Filius slammed a hand on the switch to seal off the escape pod and initiate the launch.

The Adept widened his eyes as he turned to glare back at Filius. Hammering with his fist on the porthole of the pod, the Force wielder raged even as Filius waved goodbye to him. At least the fool was smart enough not to use his saber and kill himself by piercing the narrow hull of the pod.

However, even as the pod discharged from the ship and was sent hurtling out into space, Filius caught a glance of the Adept bringing his arm to his mouth, which could only meant that he was signaling the fleet to resume bombarding the _Pursuit of Justice_.

Thoroughly exhausted, Filius returned to the bridge as quickly as he could, arriving just in time to see the oncoming storm of missiles and lasers that threatened to tear their ship apart. "Prismatic Barrier holding for now Commander," the officer he left in charge informed Filius as he approached, "and we've heard from the ground forces. Shuttles are retreating from the surface to us."

"Are all out forces returning?" Filius asked, eyeing the monitors for their shields, which while holding strong for the time was still taking a powerful hit in energy levels with the barrage it was weathering.

"No, Shadow Guesto, Knight Ist and their group are taking an anti-air outpost to make sure that the others can escape." The officer responded, and Filius frowned. That was a clear and dangerous move, and he wasn't sure if they would be able to remain here without retreating soon.

"Send word to them that they need to withdraw and escape quickly, there's only so long that we can withstand this onslaught," he ordered, worrying for the others of their group that had come on this mission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diábolis seethed as he finally left the chamber where Yihdâ was being held. He had tortured the half-sith for hours, and had acquired very little from him. What he did now know was that the fool did not know for certain where his master might be hiding.

It was actually somewhat disappointing how little the fool truly knew regarding their plans or the grand scheme of the rejected Sith. It was almost as though the being was merely a patsy that was used, much like a tool, rather than an apprentice to his master.

The counters to Diábolis' own life and position were clear, and yet it was disturbing that there were many parallels now, regarding the lack of communication, and the near nonexistent awareness of each other's location. If the Emperor didn't ever leave his palace, Diábolis wouldn't know where the man was either.

It truly gave him a great deal to think of, and the challenges that he was faced with in the pursuit of dethroning the man who took control of the Galaxy at the end of a lightsaber. To destroy such a man and still leave a sizeable chunk of the Empire to rule was a daunting task.

Diábolis had thought that this uprising of a different Force users would have been a useful smokescreen to make his moves unseen, but with his master driving him to and fro dealing with the matter directly, Diábolis realized that Veneficus had sensed such an opportunity and dealt with it completely, eliminating any time that the Sith Apprentice could have used to build a fight against him.

Therefore, he would have to fall back on his other plans, especially those that relied on the Jedi and their rebel friends and having them build up forces to oppose the Empire directly. Unfortunately, there was only so much that he could do directly to influence the rebels, as aside from finding some Jedi on Ilum he had not even interacted with them in any fashion.

Therefore, he needed to send out spies and infiltrators to find the rebels, not in order to report back to Veneficus and destroy them, but to keep tabs on them and work their way into the upper ranks of the groups, and lead them in such a way that they defeat Veneficus without demolishing the Empire as a whole.

Then, once that position had been achieved, Diábolis could swoop in, eliminate the rebels in one brilliant flash of destruction, and set himself as the head of the newly glorified Empire, and rule himself in the aftermath of his master's fall, and the elimination of the Jedi, the rebels, and all others that wont bow to his rule.

Quickly sending some coded messages out on his communicator to several sleeper agents he personally had control of throughout the Empire, he gave the instruction to find the rebels and get into their organization, before focusing on the oncoming sense of Darkness, even as the ship exited Hyperspace over Coruscant.

Veneficus was still there, his presence clouding the entire planet like a thick shroud. Diábolis was sure that their prisoner could even feel the oppressive aura as they passed through it to the darkened planet. Even with the sun beating down in midday, the power of the Dark Side was almost a visible force blackening the sky, and casting a gloom over the landscape of endless buildings.

Their ship, despite its size, was more the capable of coming in for landing at the specialized hangar and ship repair station, which had been captured when they invaded the planet. It was especially reserved for the ships of the two Sith Lords; however, and was left empty for Diábolis' return.

"Ready my prisoner for transport, we will be taking him to the Emperor directly…" Diábolis said to the commander of the ship, who inclined his head and obeyed.

Turning and departing for the shuttle, even as the capital ship prepared for docking on the planet side hub, he wave a hand at Fury and his pet troll as they appeared, "I shall not be long, and soon we shall have the answers we seek."

"Just to be sure, my Lord, I would feel better if we at least accompanied you until the Emperor's guards have custody of the prisoner," Fury countered, and Diábolis smirked at the tact alongside the refusal of his command.

"Very well," he said, rewarding the small amount of assertion against the will of a superior. In this small matter it was more tolerable, but the Sith apprentice knew that if such an event happened when it actually had consequences, he would have to be swift in shutting down the presumptuous Marauder.

The prisoner was waiting for them, bound in chains and Force restrictive binders that hindered all ability to fight back, escorted by the elite commandos of Diábolis' trooper regiment, and over watched by several other, lesser Dark Adepts.

Piling the half-Sith into the back of the shuttle, Diábolis permitted the pilot to take off, and set the course directly from the Works to the Imperial palace, submitting the key codes for the heir of the Empire for the border guards, so that they wouldn't be shot at on sight.

"The Emperor has been expecting you, Lord Diábolis," the black helmeted guard said, from the hologram communication from the palace. "Your prisoner will be taken upon arrival and the Emperor wishes for your presence directly."

"Very well," Diábolis acknowledged, "I will comply with his Majesty's wishes."

"See that you do…" the guard replied, with only the subtlest threatening note as the communication ended.

Diábolis frowned at the thought, even as the shuttle wheeling in a tight circle for its landing within the courtyard of the palace. The guards of his master were one of the few things he had not fully accounted for how to eliminate from his grand scheme to take over the Empire.

The Arcanamach were fully loyal to Veneficus alone, and he suspected heavily that they would attempt to destroy him before he could even get close to the Sith Master to overthrow him. Somehow, he would have to find a way to eliminate the trust that Veneficus held for his personal guard.

But for the time being, he schooled his emotions and contained his secret plans for domination behind walls of Force shrouding as he entered the lair of his master. The wafting of Dark Side energy caressed him, and Diábolis could tell that Veneficus was instantly informed of every single individual that entered or left this building at all times.

The scope of Veneficus' power was truly disturbing to him, and he truly feared the idea of fighting against his master when the time came. Blotting everything from his mind, he followed the overwhelming presence of the most powerful being in the Galaxy.

Entering the Holocron vault, where his master was meditating over the collection of learned wisdom that he had acquired between the generations of Sith and stolen from the Jedi. "Your prisoner will tell us little," Veneficus stated as Diábolis entered the chamber.

Several more holocrons floated up from the side of the room, joining the dozens already rotating around the Sith Lord's head as he hovered feet above the ground.

"Then why did you want me to bring him to you?" Diábolis asked, genuinely curious to know what the Dark Side master.

"Because it leads toward the final defeat of the usurper…" Veneficus stated, his eyes half closed as he gazed partially into the future and yet remained in the present. "Skarok-Nur will soon learn that this one is his only servant left, and without his powerbase, which is being whittled away in their vain attack on Dromund Kaas, he will have no choice but to face me in the open, and I will crush him utterly…"

Diábolis was suddenly very glad that he had not placed any of his hopes on this uprising delaying for his own action. Once again the Emperor had foreseen all that would transpire, and manipulated the events for his own gain in the end.

"Excellently done, my Lord," Diábolis said, deflecting from anything that might involve himself regarding this master plan.

"And you will be here to see it completed," Veneficus continued, which surprised the Devaronian completely.

"Skarok-Nur will succeed in releasing his apprentice from the Arcanamach, and together they will try to assassinate me, but they will never expect the pair of us together." Veneficus explained, only partially looking at Diábolis with partially lidded eyes, unfocused in the throes of the future.

"Is that really necessary though?" Diábolis asked, "Could we not intercept and eliminate him together, before he need come to us?"

"No!" Veneficus barked in return, his face transforming momentarily into a grimace of anger and rage. "No, he is beyond my sight, shrouding himself from the currents of the Force, I cannot see where he is hiding… but I can sense his general movement, that he is coming for us, and soon… the Arcanamach will delay and warn us of his arrival, and we can then eliminate the last of Naga Sadow's opponents once and for all… purify the line of the Sith ever after…"

"But can we trust your guards to do even that?" Diábolis probed, sending out the tiniest feeler of doubt into his master's mind. Even the resulting blast of lightning from the old man's fingertips was worth the need for starting his plan to eliminate the guards. "They are loyal to me, and will die if I command them do to so!" the Sith Lord raged, losing his concentration and floating down to the floor, the Holocrons all around settling back in their resting places.

"Of course, my Master…" Diábolis said, feigning apology for the remarks, but he knew he had struck home. There was no reason for his master to grow angry enough to lash out if he did not already doubt the effectiveness of his own guard.

The Sith Master ignored him, standing and turning toward the entrance, "I can sense another presence entering the system. He is here…"

Diábolis raised his eyebrows, the attempt to eliminate Veneficus was happening now? From what he had interpreted from the Emperor, this was some far-flung future event, not something that was about to commence.

"Commander, ready our defenses, we will have an intruder soon," Veneficus said, and Diábolis turned to see the old man speaking into a communicator.

"Best not make it too easy for him…" the Sith Master said by way of explanation, moving toward the exit, "Come Diábolis, let us await our rivals…"

"Yes, my Master…" Diábolis replied, hiding a grimace of irritation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelrek seethed as he watched, helpless from the escape pod he had been dumped into by Flitwick, even as his ships advanced, attacking all out on the Rebel vessel while fighters were sent to retrieve him and return to the main cruiser.

How he had been so easily defeated by a trick was disgraceful, and the Sorcerer was on a warpath to avenge his wounded pride, but he was aware of the need to stay in orbit over the planet. But in that cause he had formulated a plan.

It was obvious, from the technical readouts he had caught glimpses of throughout the ship that the rebels were planning to hastily recover as many of the Republic forces that they could and flee back to their base. While he had not been able to plant any sort of tracking device on their ship, nor did he expect that one would survive long enough to give away their hiding place, he could and indeed would make their rescue attempt a failure.

The first step was moving the fleet further in, so that they could fire on any shuttles that were retreating from the planet's surface. Next, he sent out a coded communication to Srilis and Jennah on the surface, telling them to advance their timetables and strike at the Republic as they fled, which would put more pressure on them to get off the surface of the planet and into the waiting guns of their fleet.

Finally, he would have all their fighters scramble from both the fleet no their surface bases to harass and destroy whatever they could, scorching the planet if needs be to send the clear message across. The Empire was not to be mocked in such a fashion, and the Adept Trio would not allow it.

But before he could enact any of that wonderful, final vengeance, he wanted to be witness to it from the bridge of his own ship, not wallowing in the escape pod that had temporarily become his prison.

"My Lord," came the communication over his comlink, even as a pair of sith fighters slowly flew by him, "We shall tow you back to the ship, so just hang in there a while longer…"

"Make it quick, I do not wish to be in range of their guns for much longer," Kelrek stated, casting a glance back toward the ship, and wondering why they had not been shot at by now anyway.

Cursing loudly as one of the of the fighters suddenly exploded, Kelrek was jarred roughly as the pod started to move, towing lines from the remaining fighter having impacted the hull and were now pulling taught, slowly accelerating him through space away from the wreckage of the second fighter.

A fresh wave of sith interceptors took their place, barreling toward the rebel's ship and firing with impunity at the vessel. Kelrek wasn't sure in his current position if his soldiers had managed to cripple any of the systems on board, but with how the massive projected barrier still held, he suspected that they had failed in their missions.

Still, the glowing red barrier wasn't going to hold out for much longer, and if he managed to destroy the ship, then he would still walk away from this situation the victor.

Calling in to the main cruiser, Kelrek demanded, "I want surgical bombers to circle around that barrier and begin work destroying their shields. This conflict has taken long enough and needs to be ended."

"Yes, my Lord," the admiral in command replied, even as Kelrek felt the tractor beam of the Imperial cruiser finally take hold of the pod he was held in.

Within minutes he was back on solid ground inside the vessel, brushing past the troopers that had come to free him from the pod, and had been forced back when he cut himself out violently. Storming up to the bridge, Kelrek glared across at the group of faces, many of which glanced at him in terror before returning to their tasks, daring any of them to even mention his humiliating exit from the rebel ship.

"Status report." He demanded of the nearest officer, who nodded hesitantly and handed over a datapad, which had the readouts from the short range sensors and was trained on the _Pursuit of Justice_.

Scrolling quickly through the data that was displayed before him, Kelrek read swiftly. The shields of the enemy ship were quite weak now, and it wouldn't be long before they fell, and the ship either retreated or was destroyed. Meanwhile, the shuttles had drawn closer, and while he had commanded fighters to be sent to intercept, but one of the anti-air batteries, as well as the enemy vessel itself had turned their guns on the Imperial fighters, shooting most of them out of the air and scattering the rest.

The shuttles had almost arrived at the ship; however, there was another opportunity in that rogue anti-air battery. There had to be a group of rebels, or Republic soldiers there, and while their ground forces were closing in, it was likely that they would need to escape as well.

"Converge our air forces on that anti-air battery. I don't want those rebels to escape," Kelrek ordered, forwarding the coordinates to the consoles of the officers in charge of their landing shuttles and fighter wings.

"What of the shuttles and the cruiser?" the officer in charge of the fighter squadrons asked.

"Ignore the shuttles," Kelrek replied, "let our capital ships continue putting suppressing fire on the cruiser, we'll force them out of orbit one way or another…"

"Yes, my Lord," the group stated in unison.

Turning to glare out the main view screen at the _Pursuit of Justice_ , he turned his thoughts angrily toward the diminutive commander that was still on board that ship, quite alive. "Let's see how Fltiwick reacts to us attacking the last group left on the planet instead of their precious refugees…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Euka snarled as the honor guard of the enemy commander pursued them directly into her master's trap. It couldn't have been a simpler tactic that she and Ekitc had come up with. Despite the fact that they had left the city in somewhat different directions, their scouts had both reported this large contingent of dark Force wielders moving swiftly toward the landing sight.

From what snippets of messages she had intercepted between Ekitc and his master, Euka had learned about the half-sith leader of these attackers, one by the name of Srenmivu. Know that while she would rather take the glory of slaying such a one herself, Euka was cautious, and had contacted Ekitc and formulated a plan to lure them to Zhar's main force.

Therefore, they had ordered their regiments to proceed without them, and had converged alone on the mass of black-armored figures. Euka had slain one before they noticed the presence of the Adepts in their ranks, and the chase was on.

From there it had been a simple means to lure them straight to where they already were heading, but at a far less careful pace, directly into the line of fire from the lines of Imperial troopers that guarded the landing platform in the jungle.

Zhar appeared with them once they skidded to a halt in the no-man's-land between the line of trees and the line of troopers, even as the first of the black saber wielders crashed out of the trees. The troopers opened fire, and cut down several with the surprise of the sudden counterattack. The last few retreated, their sabers becoming a blur as they deflected the bolts until they were out of sight.

"Well met, my apprentice," Zhar said quickly, looking up at the group of dark helmets, even as the entire platoon of elite adepts started into the open land in one group, covering each other from the barrage of blaster shots.

Zhar held up a hand, stopping the troopers from wasting their shots on this side, and stepped forward, his own weapon not leaving the ready position for D'jem So.

The group fanned out once the barrage of blasterfire ceased, revealing the half-sith woman in their ranks, her own black blade humming to life as he squared off against them.

"We will destroy you fools," the female stated haughtly, making a clear attempt at intimidation, but none of the three were fooled.

"Interesting, coming from one who fled with her tail between her legs from the Supreme Prophet not several hours ago…" Zhar commented, deflating the aura of power that the hybrid had been building.

Euka activated her staff even as the air turned frigid with the anger that the other force wielder projected in her hatred of the facts.

"Destroy them!" she shouted, and the armored warriors charged, even as the three powerful Dark  
Adepts reared back with the Force, unleashing three blasts of lightning at the charging, metal-encased foes.

It was almost amusing to watch the majority of the black armored fools collapse instantly under the torrents of blue-white electricity. A scant few managed to escape the blast, including the female, who all leapt across the last few feet and attacked.

Zhar intercepted Srenmivu, their sabers flashing as the launched into a high paced exchange of blows, even as both Euka and Ekitc were forced to dodge back as the remaining armored guards charged them. Spinning out of the way of the crashing black saber, Euka jumped up and kicked her assailant in the head, staggering the being and opening the figure up to her own crimson blade, which she drove in with relish.

The briefest glance to the side showed her that Ekitc had dispatched the last remaining underling equally swiftly, and together they converged on Zhar and Srenmivu, flanking the half-sith female. Despite this three-on-one combat, their foe seemed to relish the challenge, and somehow grew swifter and stronger from it, almost feasting off the raw Dark Side between the four combatants.

Lightning seemed to pour from the jet-black blade in her hand, leaping off at different intervals to block their strikes even as the powerful Force adept battled against the overwhelming odds.

Euka had to admit, despite the clear differences in skill with the blade, the half-sith's mastery of very strange and arcane force techniques was impressive. Only the waves of lightning were managing to make up for the five blades versus her one, but Euka had a feeling that it wouldn't last long one way or another.

And she was proven right, when Srenmivu made the attempt to blast them all away with a wave of telekinesis. Zhar and Ekitc were knocked away, but Euka had anticipated it and boosted her aura to resist the blast, stepping forward instead, and slipping past the half-sith's defenses.

The woman shrieked as Euka's blade worked straight through her armor and into her chest cavity, and an explosion of Force energy ripped through the area, shortly before Srenmivu collapsed, dead at last.

Glancing up, Euka couldn't help but smirk at the looks she received from her master and her rival. Zhar's pride was abundantly clear, while the jealous anger of Ekitc tasted far better to Euka through the Force.

If she wasn't recognized at the end of this battle for this victory, then there would be quite a deal of retribution to pay. Turning to face the tree line at a warning from the Force, Euka stood shoulder to shoulder with the others, their own opinions discarded as more troopers and black lightsaber wielders poured from the trees. There would be time enough after the battle to hash out the details of what the implications were.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist saw on the scanners that the Imperial fleet was turning toward them. They had had to yield the outer grounds to the overwhelming land forces that were converging on them, but for the safety of the shuttles that had done everything in their power to keep the guns firing at the swarms of fighters trying to harass the departing shuttles.

The cheer when they succeeded had been short lived however, when they spotted the fighters turning toward them instead. Naturally they would be able to hold the location for a short time, but Ist was already delving into their blueprint readouts of the complex, looking for any possible means of escape. There were no intended departure means, but she found a handful of exterior walls that could easily be cut through and lead directly into a network of caves that ran below the outpost.

She wasn't fond of caves, not after Ilum, but if there was no other choice, that was where they had planned to go, hopefully finding or making another exit somewhere else, and making their own way back to their hidden shuttles and off world before the _Pursuit of Justice_ was forced to leave them behind.

"Master Jedi, what part of holding the outpost did you decide against exactly?" the voice of the regiment's commander said, from some unknown location. The officers had finally, upon seeing the forces that they were up against, decided that discretion was the better part, and chose to abandon their leader and flee to join the rebels and fight another day.

Their commander, predictably, was not pleased with that decision. "It has become a nonnegotiable fact, sir," Ist replied, trying to remain courteous, and wondering why Shadow Guesto wasn't the one speaking to the man.

Even still, there was a strange feeling that she was missing something regarding the man she was speaking to. The Force swirled around the man in odd ways, and it led her to feel greatly suspicious of the commander.

"Commander, the outpost will be lost," the officer working directly with the Jedi commented, but the faceless voice overrode him, "You will do as I command. The other fools may think that running away like cowards is the only option, but I have never lost a battle, and I will not start now!"

"That's… not true…" the officer replied, and Ist suddenly had a spot of intuition regarding the man whom she had never seen, nor had many of the Republic troopers after the battle for Ord Mantell started.

Switching off the communication, she turned to the officer, "he's defected…" she accused, "this was a trap from the beginning, and we need to get out of here before the Imperials block the caverns and trap us here for good."

"Are you sure?" the officer said, fright evident in the being's voice.

Glancing at the Jedi Shadow, Ist noted that the Changling nodded subtly, agreeing with her assessment. "Yes, we must leave now, set the turrets to automatic and get everyone to the lowest levels." She advised, and the officer nodded.

Even as the technitions scrambled to gather everything that they could use outside of the outpost, Ist and Shadow Guesto took point, yellow sabers alight and leading the way. They hardly made it down the corridor; however, when the building shook violently and all the lights went out. Illuminated in the yellow glow of their weapons, the two Jedi look at each other, knowing that they had limited time to get the others to the extraction point and cut their way out of the building before it was stormed by shock troopers.

"I'll hold them off, you get the others out of here," the Clawdite said, his skin already transforming to resemble the grey armor of an Imperial trooper. Clutching his staff in both hands, the Shadow darted off down the corridor, heading toward the front entrance, presumably to lay an ambush for the invaders and buy Ist and the others more time.

Ist only had to wait a moment or two before the officer, several helmeted troopers and the group of engineers bolted from the room and to her side. "This way," she said, leading the way with her saber high for them all to see, navigating the staircases and emergency shafts to avoid any potential brushes with the oncoming imperial troops.

However, once they made it to the bottom of the compound, Ist felt a tremor in the Force, and she could only assume that Shadow Guesto had launched his ambush, and that the fighting at the entrance had begun.

"We almost out of time," she said, looking up at the ceiling momentarily, before turning toward the wall that they had previously selected, and plunging her saber into the thick durasteel. Many people might have thought that it was a simple matter for the Jedi to cut through doors and walls, but Ist knew that in fact it was very difficult. The material cut, that was true, but the resistance of the electromagnetic field in both the metal and around the plasma blade itself wanted to repel each other, and the Jedi had to call upon the Force as well as their own strength to push the blade through the molten metal.

So, after a long and painful few moments where everyone was on edge as Ist worked her way through the tick wall of the outpost, finally a near-perfect circle of metal fell away with a nudge from the Force, revealing the short stint of rocky land before the cliff side rose up, blocking escape in that direction.

It was too quite though, "we need to be quick and decisive, no stopping for anything until we're in the caverns," Ist instructed, before stepping out quickly to protect their flank.

The Republic soldiers started to run for the entrance of the cavern network. And just as Ist suspected, from both sides of the outpost surged groups of Imperial troopers. The first barrage of blaster bolts were immediately caught and redirected by Ist's blade, but she knew that her preferred style of combat wasn't going to stand up to a sustained attacks.

Hastily withdrawing therefore, she kept what blaster shots she could stop from getting through, and dodged just as many. Once she felt most of the Republic soldiers got through to the cavern, she leapt backward, hitting the opposite side with a massive wave of the Force to knock them away, and ran for the cavern herself.

She was quick, especially with the Force to aid her, but the numbers were simply too great, and she cried out as at the last moment a stray shot caught her in the shoulder, knocking her off her stride and she slammed against a wall.

Rebounding quickly, she took off again, knowing that she had to get past the point where, in their plan, the Republic troopers would have been setting charged to strategically collapse the ceiling and block the Imperials from following them.

The trigger of explosions rocketed behind her as she rounded the last curve, buffeting her forward and almost throwing her from her feet.

The soldiers and technicians rallied around her, the officer in charge catching her before she had the chance to lose her balance. "That ought to have foiled their plans for the time being…" she said after a moment of catching her breath. She made an effort to move away and raise her lightsaber to illuminate the sudden darkness they had been plunged into, but hissed in pain as her arm screamed in pain.

"We need a medic!" the officer called.

"There no time," Ist complained, passing her weapon to the other hand and igniting it, the pale yellow light casting shadows off their faces in all directions, "the Empire will start burrowing through the rubble to chase us, as well as try to locate our exit before we reach it, we have to move."

"Not until you've been looked at, at the very least," the officer rebuffed, showing his own determination to make sure that she was cared for. Ist admired that dedication to the others in his command, even though Ist was technically outside of his direction command.

"Fine, I concede the point, but can we do this while we move," Ist said, sensing renewed tremors in the Force. Dark Side Adepts were converging on their position, and with a jolt she realized that Shadow Guesto was not with them, but back at the outpost.

Whether the Clawdite managed to escape or fell in battle, she was not certain, but they had no choice but to go on without him. "Let's move," she said, even as the medic started pulling the sleeve away from the charred part of her shoulder, and layered careful Bacta patched over the wound.

Helmet lights went on throughout the group of soldiers, and within moments they started off down the passage, carefully checking with sonar devises that they had prepared for this specific escape.


	13. C12: Discovering Triumph

**Wow, it's been a rough week; makes me glad that I prepare all of these chapters in advance, and I'm still theoretically on time, so I guess it's not that big of a deal. Still, thanks to those who review, and here's the next one. Enjoy! ~F**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 **Discovering Triumph**

Veneficus sat in his throne, not quite in the heart of his palace, but near enough that his aura shone like a beacon of blackness through the building, and he knew that this alone would be sufficient to pull the two invaders away from considering his holocron vault or other targets as their destination.

Diabolis paced methodically around the front of the room, waiting in clear impatience for the event that the Sith Master was sensing through the Force as it unfurled before him.

In the meantime, it gave Veneficus the time he needed to monitor the progress of his security as they mobilized against the threat that would overcome them inevitably. It was truly sad, the guards were less than capable of even finding an intruder of any caliber of note, let alone actually detain or slay them when already notified by Veneficus himself.

Veneficus sensed the dozens that were systematically killed as Skarok-Nur carved his way to the prison cells, where his apprentice resided for the time being.

"I would have thought that such a powerful force such as the Arcanamach would have already started forming their defenses for us against such powerful intruders," Diábolis said casually, striking the cord that Veneficus had already felt being worn thin.

The time for the royal guards was slowly passing. As soon as he found immortality in the depths of the collected knowledge of the Jedi and the Sith, he would become invincible, and have no need for any mundane force to protect his welfare, but even still there was a clear deficience from this latest batch of clones of Blaise Zabini. Granted, the DNA that they had left of the man was wearing thin, and perhaps it was time to look for newer, stronger stock to fill the gaps, but that was a notion for another time.

"Intruders in the cell block!" spoke a voice over the communication systems for the palace, finally notifying them all that Skarok-Nur had freed his apprentice.

"They come now…" Veneficus said lazily, already turning his presence toward them as they swiftly cut their way through the corridors of the palace and made their way directly to Veneficus in his throne room.

Smirking as he sensed their presence at the final corner, Veneficus gestured at the door, wielding the Force so finely that it slid open silently, moments before the pair of Sith Hybrids appeared on the other side, their black lightsabers lit and glowing with their faint light.

"Well, well…" Veneficus said, unmoving from his near lazy posture on the curved throne. "I was wondering how long it would take for you both to arrive here… and I find myself disappointed…"

Diábolis lit his own weapon, moving to stand between the threat and his master, even as Veneficus sneered at them, amused at their brashness to so willingly follow his scheme in the Force to their deaths.

"Your rebellion against my rule ends here…" Veneficus said, probing the pair to find what small jab would be needed to send them into a blinding rage and eliminate their reason to fight strategically.

"Rebellion?" Skarok-Nur responded, equally amused in tone, "it is revolution, false Emperor. Your entire line was placed into power based on the false move of Naga Sadow against my master, the true heir of the Sith Empire anciently. But that time has passed, and it is you that will suffer in Sadow's place…"

Leaning forward slowly, Veneficus allowed the full power of the Dark Side to flow from him, revealing the deep lamp-yellow of his eyes, "Oh… I'm afraid that your desperate plan will be quite unattainable, against my superior might…"

"Then we shall destroy you to prove it!" the younger apprentice shouted, falling for the seductive trap, and leaping forward.

It was almost child's play for Diábolis to intercept and block the forward momentum of the younger hybrid, even as Skarok-Nur advanced more slowly. It would have been an excellent test of his apprentice's might, to face off against these two at once, but with their clear and determined focus on attacking the seeming defenseless Emperor directly, it was laughable for the Devaronian to hedge them back, blocking their attack routes and otherwise hindering them from trying any sort of united front against Veneficus.

Inevitably however, Skarok-Nur stopped playing, and turned his attention to Diábolis, and was able to engage the apprentice well enough that Yihdâ, the apprentice made it nearer to the massive throne. Feigning a small dose of fear, Veneficus raised his hands against the young being, watching the dawning horror as the Hybrid Sith dove in for the strike, only to realize his mistake even as Skarok-Nur called out for him to watch out.

The flow of lightning from his fingers was music to Veneficus' ears, mixed with the screams of Yihdâ as the younger opponent was thrown backward, crashing heavily into the solid wall of stone.

Rising slowly from his throne, Veneficus reveled in the expression of power that the Force that rang out as he reached for his weapons. His presence was growing so great that the Force itself responded to his movements. He commanded the dictates of the future with a thought, and through rituals he eclipsed even the strength of starships.

The crimson beam of a single blade erupted from his hilt, as Diábolis stood aside as the Emperor of the Galaxy leapt with a roar of rage at this upstart that considered himself a rival to the ultimate being of the Dark Side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Filius watched in tense suspension as the last few shuttles slipping into the hangar of the _Pursuit of Justice_ , escaping the threatening Sith fighters and other ships that were starting to wear through the powerful barrier projected by the massive rebellion ship.

But the problem was that there were still more on the surface, and several of their communication officers were desperately trying to triangulate the position of their forces, as well as the remnant Republic soldiers that were trying to hold off the Imperial ground troops as long as possible.

"Sir, shield strength dipping below twenty percent!" another called, sounding worried.

They had held in close orbit for well over an hour of solid bombardment, and more of the officers were now desperately looking toward Filius for permission to start pulling away before the shields failed completely, and despite the fact that he had a great deal of anxiety at doing so, they had little choice but to fall back for the time being.

As much as he wanted to continue to wait and save everyone that they could, Filius knew that he had a duty to those that had already escaped from the march of the Empire across Ord Mantell.

"Pull the ship back," Filius ordered after another long pause, feeling a great weight settle in his chest. Not everyone made it off the planet. He had meticulously counted the shuttles as they entered and registered with the ship, and they were one short.

But they were out of time. "I hope whatever poor souls are still down there are wise enough to go to ground until we can return, or else escape on their own," Filius said to no one in particular, even as the planet started to pull away from their view, and the _Pursuit of Justice_ made for deep space in order to hyperspace away. They had a long, circular route planned to swiftly shake off any pursuit, and then return back to their new base at Bakura.

Closing his eyes as the starlines enveloped their ship, Filius apologized once more to those that they had to leave behind. If it had been only his own crew, or even Admiral Weasley, they would have remained until the ship had to limp away to give all the time they could to those on the surface, but those times had been against a severely weakened fleets under the High Inquisitor, and they had not been carrying so many important supplies and personal that were needed for the furthering of the rebellion altogether.

After several tense minutes, they pulled out of Hyperspace once more, the officers immediately flew into action, resetting weapon and shields, as well as setting to regulating their engines and calculating what damage they took in the battle.

"Commander, incoming objects from Hyperspace! T-minus twenty," the long range sensor officer called.

"Jump to the next location." Filius called, and within moments the star lines glared past them once more, and they were off to the next stopping point.

This was the strategy that they used to escape Gor-lak the Cruel time and again: staggering their jumps between a myriad of locations, combined with rapidly seeing to the repairs and recharging of the ship. It was a complicated process, one that had been carefully tailored to their crew, but was currently going far slower than before because of the surprise boarding that they had weathered, and had lost some of their command staff and crews throughout the ship. Filius was certain many of the Republic soldiers would jump in where they could, but for the moment he was focused on the need of keeping them a step ahead of any pursuit.

They would follow the closest hyperlane for the next few jumps, before carefully diverting from it and doubling back to go in another direction, and then a third time to turn back toward Bakura. Fortunately, their astromechs and technicians that worked the Hyperdrive had been spared, and they would make it back in time, and likely lose all pursuers.

As they entered their fourth jump, the door to the bridge opened, and Filius turned, hand on his wand out of habit, but he released it as more technicians appeared, followed by a pair of men in Republic military uniforms.

At a glance, Filius could tell their ranks instantly. One was that of a Republic Army General, while the other was a Fleet Commodore. "Marshal Commander Flitwick!" each said, slapping sharp salutes as they recognized the former rank that Filius had attained in the Neo-Sith war. Waving away their formalities, Filius gestured for them both to approach. The General gestured for their technicians to fill the room, and each of the other beings immeaitely went to fill places that had been vacated, studying closely what Filius' crew were up to in order to assist as best they could.

"The situation seems grim, Commander," the Commodore said, hands clasped behind his back in proper military decorum.

"At ease…" Filius said, one hand twitched as he resisted the urge to rub at his temples. He was still weary from the mad dash through the ship to eliminate the Dark Adept that threatened their entire ship mere hours ago, and he hadn't had any rest or sustenance since the battle began.

"Of course, Sir," the Commodore said, relaxing his posture, but Filius could tell that the man was a stickler for the required amount of respect between ranks.

"I will get to the point," Filius said slowly, "we are executing a series of maneuvers to shake off any pursuit, and then we will be going straight to the location of the new rebellion base, being built specifically for our use as the front of our military planning against the Empire."

"Sir?" the General asked, and Filius turned to him.

"General Caldev Marlas, third division Republic Ground Assault Forces, sir, I was curious as to why we are going to a new base and not the main base?" the human said quickly, and Filius had to resist rolling his eyes at the military rattling of name and rank.

"Gentlemen, please, I have no patience for military formalities. I was a professor for a long time before entering the war, and I am used to a relaxed discourse of ideas." He said at last, having enough of their strict etiquette.

"We are not going to the main base because, among other things, the director of the Rebellion does not yet trust that all who wish to join us have the best intentions," Filius quickly explained, holding up a hand to forestall the Commodore from interrupting, "you will meet her, as she is heading the construction, and you can ask in person when the time is right."

Filius left the conversation at that, having little else that he was able to explain perfectly, and knowing that they had more important matters to tend to, such as detailing exactly what had prevent their remaining forces from escaping the planet, and the status of the other forces of the Republic throughout the sector.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diábolis was taken aback at the duel that unfolded before him. As much as he had wanted to understand just how strong his master truly was, this was not what he had expected.

The pair of Force users transformed into blurs of motion, crimson and onyx blades shattering against each other with flashed of light. Liberal uses of the Force were incorporated into their graceful dance of death, and Diábolis had to retreat to a safe distance to avoid the crashes of lightning or the blasts of telekinesis.

Even attempting to view the chaos before him required a focused effort of the Force, just to slow their motions to his eye. Veneficus clearly held the upper hand of the aggressor in the duel, his twin sabers having been brought to bear in all vengeance against Skarok-Nur. But the Sith-human hybrid was not without a level of skill all his own, able to handle the onslaught for the time being.

But Diábolis could see that the Dark Side flowed through his master in far greater quantities than the other Sith. Unfortunately, his eyes were torn away from the powerful duel as the Force cried out a warning to him, and he dodged the hastily thrust ebon blade, wielded by the now recovered Yihdâ, and he had his own rival to match against.

Twinblade whirling in tight arcs, Diábolis allowed his consciousness to sink into the rage and miasmic power of the Dark Side, even calling upon a portion of his master's darkness through the bond of master and apprentice, in order to bring every ounce of power to bear against this usurper. What he received from Veneficus was unexpected. Instead of the trickle of foresight and strength that he was used to, it was closer to a tidal wave of pure power.

This was a fight for the right to rule as Lords of the Sith, and Veneficus was giving the battle no quarter, unleashing every ounce of skill and knowledge that he had amassed in his lifetime, through struggle and trial.

It washed over Diábolis, and he became hyper aware of his surroundings. If this was even a fraction of what his master felt, then the Devaronian knew he had his work cut out for him in the process of usurping the mantle of Sith Master from the man.

Charging headlong at Yihdâ, Diábolis did not care that his weapon left deep gouges in the throne room of his master, the blades sending sparks flying at the other Sith, who staggered back from the sudden series of attack, only managing to bring up his defenses in time to keep his head, and his life.

Surrendering to the madness that his master generated, the Apprentice felt all the calculating brilliance of Veneficus surge into his mind, allowing him to foresee the moves of his opponent long before they were even committed to by the hybrid, and allowing him to counter them gracefully and efficiently.

Pressing Yihdâ back immediately, sticking to a series of pure offensive techniques, Diábolis hammered his blades back and forth across the forceful blocks of his opponent, feeling every amount of energy that he was leeching from his opponent in the process, and allowing the momentum of his weapon to carry him into his next attack.

Sensing a pitiful attempt to reverse their positions, Diábolis leapt into the air, dodging the sweep at his legs completely, and channeling the Force, he landed heavily with a shockwave of telekinesis, throwing Yihdâ back even farther from him.

Sprinting forward, Diábolis executed a spinning leapt, his weapon spinning tightly around him like the end of a drill, deflecting any attempt at counter attack, and throwing his opponent out of position. Catching his enemies' blade with his own, Diábolis threw it heavily to the side, leaving Yihdâ dangerously exposed for the counter slash, which ended the hybrid's life and sent the usurper to the floor in a heap.

In a torrent, the powerful surge of the Force fled from him, leaving Diábolis drained and weary, and it was all he could do to stay in his feet and turn his head to watch the continued battle of the two master's of the Dark Side; the most powerful Force users in the Galaxy.

Veneficus had clearly been forced to yield a bit of ground in order to flood his apprentice with all the help he needed to eliminate Yihdâ, and had paid for it a bit. There was a clear scorch mark on his robes, and Veneficus was carrying himself more to the left side, shielding his injured right from further damage.

But now, the Emperor charged forward once more, with a roar of rage and anger, his weapons flying forward to catch the single blade of Skarok-Nur, shattering the hybrid's stance and throwing him off his footing completely.

Seizing the opportunity, Veneficus' offhand blade vanished, even as the Force caught and threw Skarok-Nur into the air, separating the other duelist from his weapon completely.

The hybrid slammed back into the ground, Diábolis wincing at the audible snap of bone and ligament as the hard surface shattered something important in the other Sith, causing him to bellow in pain.

"That is only a taste of what is to come," Veneficus said, his voice soft but the menacing tone audible over even the wails of pain, even as the Emperor withdrew the short wooden wand, which crackled with energy and the touch of the Dark Side.

Diábolis felt the unnatural power that the small implement represented, and it truly frightened him. This was a power that he had no capability of matching, because he neither understood it nor could use it himself.

"I've developed a special ritual spell just for you…" Veneficus said, even as he waved the wand, causing runes to appear in sickening green and blood-red lights around the pair of Sith Lords.

"Simply put," Veneficus explained, between bursts of incantations, none of which Diábolis understood, "your death is not sufficient to satisfy me… so I will take it a step further, and erase you from the history of the Galaxy…"

Diábolis widened his eyes. Could such a thing be truly possible? Surely the Emperor was exaggerating, and was simply planning a brutally ignoble death to place Skarok-Nur in and leave him to rot for a long time.

But no, Diábolis had heard his master quite well, and the man had specifically indicated that he would erase Skarok-Nur from history, as in make everyone who had ever known of him forget.

The spell concluded, and runes flew through the air and latched onto the hybrid painfully, searing their way onto his flesh through his clothes and armor, making Skarok-Nur thrash on the ground and scream all the more.

"I developed this spell off the means of defending a location by erasing it from the memory of all but a secret keeper. I alone will remember that you ever existed the moment you die, so at least know that your memory will be kept by me, the one who triumphed so easily over you." Veneficus said, leaning over the fallen hybrid.

"You are now nothing! _Avada Kedavera_!" he exclaimed, and a massive green bolt shot from the wand, striking the figure beneath Veneficus, and the strange hybrid creature died.

Diábolis blinked. He could have sworn that he knew something about the man who had just been killed, a name at the least, but all of a sudden it was a blur. He was straining his mind to even recall why he had come back to the Imperial Palace in the first place.

There was something that was a threat to the Empire, but he couldn't place the exact focus of that threat.

"Any now he is no more…" Veneficus said, and the triumph surging through the Force was palpable.

The Sith Master stopped, shifting on his feet poorly, and almost instinctually his hand plunged into his robes, withdrawing a vial of blood-red liquid, and pressing it to his lips. There was a pause, and then the eyes of the Emperor turned toward Diábolis, even as the Apprentice witnessed the clear injuries in his master vanish completely.

That was the secret. Veneficus had found a means of immortality, and it confirmed everything that he had learned from the end of the war with the Republic to now. Veneficus wanted to eliminate him and rule forever himself.

"You will take the fight back to the rebels, and discover their hidden base… kill them, and destroy the last remnant of any resistance to my Empire, Lord Diábolis." Veneficus said scathingly, as though daring the Devaronian to challenge his authority.

"Yes, my Master," Diábolis responded automatically, his mind already spiraling away with a myriad of thoughts as to how this little piece of information would spell the doom for one or the other of them. This was the key to eliminating his master. Veneficus was not immortal, but he could heal any wound, any disease, any corruption of the Dark Side.

But if he could destroy or separate the Emperor from that source of life, and the man would become mortal once more, and then it was just overpowering his formidable skill in battle and in the Force.

That, at the least, was an obstacle that he could strive toward overcoming, now that he knew the lynchpin that would spell the doom of Veneficus.

But that was also dependant on his own survival through to that point. Even as Diábolis departed his master's presence swiftly, he could sense the flow of the Dark Side clinging to him, as though the Emperor was withholding himself from destroying his apprentice right then and there.

It was a miracle that he made it to his personal shuttle in one piece. However, he was suddenly aware that it was highly likely that his master, now knowing that Diábolis knew the secret of his immortality, would sense assassins to directly challenge the other Sith for his life.

It was what he would do in the same position as his master, and even as he settled into his personal quarters of the shuttle, as it taxied them back into orbit and he awaiting fleet, he sought to center himself once more in the embrace of the Dark Side, and prepare for whatever surprises awaited him when Veneficus finally made his move to destroy his own apprentice and take command of the Galaxy for himself, for all time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist couldn't have felt better about their situation than when the group reached the opposite end of the cave network and found it unguarded.

The Republic troopers had by now removed their helmets, and the lieutenant, a Twi'lek named Jezhala, just returned from scouting the area with a small squad. Ist would have gone with them, but the troopers had all but forced her to remain behind and have her injury more closely looked at.

"What news?" she asked; therefore, as the lieutenant approached.

"The shuttle is just where you said it was," Jezhala reported, lekku twitching slightly after being cramped into the republic helmet for so long, "fully fueled and ready to go, but there's a problem."

"What is it?" Ist asked, even as the Twi'lek pulled a holoprojector out of his belt, activating it to show a tactical map of the area. "not only has the outpost been recaptured by the Empire, the anti-air gun is active once more, meaning we wouldn't get over the cloud line before we were shot down, and the nearest clear spot would have us flying for nearly fifty kilometers."

"We'd be spotted and chased before getting that far," Ist surmised, and Jezhala nodded.

"However, there was a recorded message waiting for us at the shuttle, that might offer a bit of help, albeit unexpected." He added, pulling out a communicator and activating it.

The voice was unrecognizable to Ist, but it was oddly familiar to her somehow, "This is Operative Shade to any Rebel or Republic forces, the system of Ord Mantel has been quarantined by the Empire, in order to capture and eliminate any forces left on its surface. If you are hearing this, and need to escape, I have set up a small base in the mountains at these coordinates. Find me and I will get you off planet and back into the fight. The Empire will fall, and we will be the fire that burns them down. May the Force be with you. Shade out."

"It sounds too good to be true, but I figured your opinion might be more valuable if you know this Operative by any chance." Jezhala said, even as Ist nodded.

"I do know of this person, although no one in the Rebellion has met him or her," she affirmed, "I think, regardless of whether we can fully trust Shade or not, it's our best hope of getting off the planet. How far are these mountains?" she asked, and Jezhala indicated on the tactical map.

"Just twenty kilometers north of us." He said, pointing at the large rise above their position. "it would take us away from the outpost, and not in a direction that has another Imperial position for a good range around it, so it is a suitable position to hold up at the worst."

"I suggest that we go there," Ist said, feeling something good about it in her gut. "at the worst it's a base camp we can make to plan our next move, and as you said, it's well away from any Imperial locations."

"As you wish, Commander," Jezhala said, motioning at his supporting officer, Sergeant Stecale and Corporal Togo, to get the rest of the troopers up and ready to move A.S.A.P.

But even as they moved out, Ist felt another strange sense of foreboding, "odd," she said, looking about, "why would the Empire give up looking for us so easily?"

"I don't like thinking about it myself," Togo said, the Zabrak passing by her as he guarded a company of technicians, "it's downright eerie on this planet now that the fighting has more or less stopped."

Ist couldn't help but agree. Still, they arrived back at the shuttle without any confrontation, real or imagined, and Ist quickly saw to their takeoff and plotted their course toward the mountains. They had to keep low to the treetops, in order to avoid any sensor sweeps that might be going across the surface from the ships in orbit, but they were able to make good time.

As they traveled, Ist searched through the originally message that had been caught in the frequency for the shuttle, and back traced the original dispenser for the signal, and was able to reverse a short burst message indicating that they were on their way, and some means of knowing where to land would be appreciated.

She wasn't sure if the message had been received, but as they drew closer to the exact coordinates a small section of the mountains suddenly lit up with high powered lights. "I suppose that is where we need to head toward," Sergeant Romacor Stecale said, who was the only trained pilot in the group outside of Ist herself, who was serving as copilot.

"We better land quickly, before those lights attract the attention of the Imperial forces." Ist said, hitting a few of the controls that shifted power to the engines so that they could travel faster.

That cut the time it would take to reach their designating landing zone the rocks perfectly hid the ship from view, and activating the localized jamming signal would scramble any signal that would I've away the presence of their ship to a casual scan.

Disembarking from the shuttle, Ist was rather uneasy about the whole situation, even as the carefully laid path took them deeper into the mountain, and slowly an entire complex was unveiled, and yet there was no one around.

"Hello?" Ist called, sweeping the area with the Force, trying to locate the person that had summoned them here.

"I was checking whether you were followed or not," a voice said to the side, and they all turned sharply, some of the troopers raising their weapons in their surprise.

The figure was shrouded in heavy black armor and a dark cloak, the only thing that Ist could physically see was a gleaming green gem in the center of the chest plate. What was odd about that was that Ist couldn't sense the figure in the Force at all, not even a void where the presence was hidden, just complete invisibility.

"Operative Shade?" she asked, taking a step closer.

"Yes," the figure affirmed, stepping into the light and lowering the hood, revealing a full facemask that was so familiar to anyone in the Rebellion that had seen the Operative's transmissions.

"I see that you received my message about the lights," Ist commented, and the masked figure shrugged.

"I was something of a rush job, but I got it done," The unknown being stated. "Since sending away all on my operatives, things have gotten a bit harder, but that won't matter for long. The Empire has won here, and you and your rebels have seen well to removing the Republic forces I was assisting from the shadows."

"About that," Ist said, diving headlong into the reason that they had come, "you say that you have a method of leaving the planet without the Empire interfering?"

"I may have recently acquired a group of Imperial shuttles, which through my connections have not been declared missing or had their codes revoked yet. My associates already took most of them, but I have a pair left that I intend to take tomorrow and flee to another planet and start once again with my network."

"The rebellion is starting a new base, one that isn't as strictly screened for who can come participate there, I'm sure that Director Granger would be more than grateful for your show of support with your shadow network being established there…" Ist offered.

"That would actually be extremely helpful for me, if my central base wasn't constantly on the move," Shade said, turning back to Ist, "I accept, you may take use of my shuttles, so long as me and the last of my equipment come with you."

"Show us to what it is you need, and we'll get them loaded as quickly as possible. The sooner were off this planet and heading back to base, the better." Ist offered.

"I'll hold you to that…" Shade replied, "but after I reveal this next piece of information that I received before I took down the network, I wonder if you'll want to come with us…"

Ist raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Taking that as indication to continue, Shade spoke again, "news reached me regarding the planet Dathomir, currently one of the greater strongholds of the Empire. Someone, or something, powerful is threatening the training facilities on the planet, and disrupting the Imperial control of the planet. The High Prophet of the planet has yet to inform the Dark Council, as far as I know, but it is a serious threat. There is a small clip of video that my spy was able to get before needing to withdraw."

The figure offered a small datapad, and Ist took it. Confused as to why this might affect her, she activated it, before her eyebrows shot up. It was a short clip of Sith assassins, fighting and losing against a shrouded figure, but the other was wielding a purple lightsaber.

"Last I heard, this ghost of Dathomir has racked up a massive body count, and there is a bounty on their head where the High Prophet has sworn to take upon the slayer as her personal apprentice. It doesn't help that her previous one died trying to kill the ghost, as well as the three subsequent apprentices."

"You think it's a lost Jedi?" Ist asked, looking up and handing back the datapad.

"What do you think?" Shade retorted, and Ist didn't need the Force to sense the smirk behind the mask.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zhar couldn't have been more proud of his apprentice, then when he was able to watch Supreme Prophet Feyd give her a medal of honor for slaying the enemy commander that had launched the vile terrorist attack of New Kaas City. In full view of the entire populace, the ceremony had the decorum that attended the majesty of the Emperor, although the man himself was naturally absent.

Sensing the writhing anger of the Supreme Prophet's own apprentice was just the cream atop their achievement. Knowing the young Mirilian was so easily agitated against his apprentice set in motion the events that would define the future downfall of his future, and the rising of Euka as the potential new Supreme Prophet.

Zhar accepted that he would not reign in that particular role, and he was alright with that fate, so long as he was indispensible until he was satisfied with his life, and was ready at last to die. For now however, together he and Euka would continue to make sure that they were protected against the madness that plagued the Empire, from the top down, and were more than prepared for the worse to come when it did.

One thing was odd; however, and Zhar longed to know the exact reasoning behind it. For some particular reason, he could remember that his apprentice had eliminated Srenmivu, the leader of this Force-wielding terrorist group, but he could have sworn that they were part of something bigger that had threatened the Empire as a whole.

Even the idea that they had a leader over the one slain seemed to be slippery, and something that he couldn't force his mind to recall. It led to a small amount of concern that his mind might at last be slipping in his old age.

Euka approached him, standing at his side as the entirety of the populace of the Imperial Capital cheered for their defenders, "And now back to dusty Korriban to continue our plots for survival?"

"Indeed so, but let's say no more regarding that for the time being," Zhar affirmed, smiling falsely to the crowd and waving.

Soon enough the speeches of the Supreme Prophet and the celebration of those involved in protecting the city died down, and they were escorted back into the Dromund Kaas Palace, but Zhar and Euka held back from joining to deeply into the festivities.

"Something has always bothered me about all of this," Euka said, when they had another rprivate moment, away from the other attendees, "why would the Emperor be so quick to depart from actively participating as Head of State, so soon after the war that won our enemy's capital? Wouldn't it have been more realistic for him to increase his view of the public, and slowly withdraw over time rather than immediately?"

"That is something I've asked myself every day since that time," Zhar agreed, glancing around their sheltered corner of the ballroom, making sure they were not overheard, "I suspect that there was a plethora of ulterior motives for the Emperor in claiming the Jedi Temple, least of all not being the vast Holocron library that the Jedi kept, of both Jedi and Sith teaching hoarded over the years."

"That's would explain why the man always keeps to himself down in those vaults, but what possibly could he be searching for?" Euka asked.

"I think we, of all the ranking members of the higharchy, are in the best possible positions to find out…" Zhar replied, looking pointedly at Euka, who raised her eyebrows in understanding.

"So you haven't just been toiling useless on that rock," she said, smirking at the brilliance of Zhar secret, "you've been looking for answers to what the Sith desire above all else…"

The High Prophet held up a hand, forestalling their conversation as a group of Adepts passed by them, speaking loudly and partaking liberally of the offered drink at the party.

"Yes, that exactly," he said, once they were alone once again, "and now that I have completely ascertained your loyalty to my side of this plight, you will aid me, in ways you have only yet begun to understand."

"Of course, my Master," she said humbly, but her eyes flashed with sparks of excitement and greed. "Do we seek to only find whatever he is searching for, or claim it for ourselves?"

"We do what the Dark Side teaches us…" Zhar said, setting aside the one glass that he had taken for himself, and starting for the exit, "We survive…"

Departing swiftly, Zhar hit the small button on his comlink, signaling for their shuttle to prepare.


	14. C13: Slim Prospects

**For my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! For all others, welcome! Much thanks to those who've reviewed the previous chapters, I appreciate every one that I receive. Enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

 **Slim Prospects**

Supreme Prophet Feyd gazed slowly around the Imperial ballroom of Dromund Kaas. He was throwing a small victory party for the Adepts that survived the battle, but the real reason was something far more devious.

He was scouting potential prospects to back him in his slow grabbing of more power throughout the Empire. His faction, while widely represented in the Empire, was sufficiently lacking compared to those still loyal to his majesty, and only through the bringing in of the fringe warriors and seeing where their loyalties could be swayed worked most effectively for fostering a greater influence throughout the lesser ranks of the Dark Adepts.

Still, the one he had been hoping to catch, High Prophet Zhar, seemed to be one of the most difficult to entice to his side.

Noticing his apprentice coming toward him, Feyd turned toward the red-skinned being. A descendant of the Sorcerers of Tund, whom Veneficus eliminated after taking what former Sith would rejoin, Ekitc Batoi had immense power in the Dark Side, and a natural affinity for it. Yet the male pureblood was more or less a disappointment in other areas, where he lacked discipline or patience to learn.

"Lord Zhar and his apprentice have left the party, my Master," Ekitc stated, to which Feyd sighed.

"I am aware of that, as well as the fact that they had been more or less isolating themselves the entire duration of the celebration. What I wanted you to do was find out what they were discussing, have you managed that?" he replied.

"No, my Lord, they were very secretive whenever I or anyone else approached them," the pureblood said, knowing that his punishment would be costly, albeit not public.

"You have failed me," Feyd said, sealing the fate for the apprentice that was to come, but nevertheless, Feyd turned away from the purebood. "Still, I do wonder what he and his apprentice are up to… surely they are not forming their own faction?"

"Korriban would be a powerful recruiting ground if that was the case," Ekitc stated, showcasing the fact that he was occasionally intelligent.

"Yes…" Feyd said, slowly becoming convinced that this might be the case, "it could be that he is playing the long game, gathering influence throughout the Empire through his apprentice, especially in consistently showing up the apprentice of the Supreme Prophet…" Ekitc's aura darkened at the mention of his many failures to put the young iradonian female in her place.

"At the same time he would be establishing his own powerful group on Korriban, filled with the most knowledge in the Empire, aside from Dromund Kaas or the Emperor's personal library." Feyd continued.

"So what would we do about it?" Ekitc asked.

"I haven't yet figured that out," Feyd admitted, stroking his short beard in thought. "We would need more warriors under our banner if we were to seize control of Korriban by force, but there's no saying what sort of accident could happen in the meantime…"

"I believe I've been neglecting visiting dear Korriban to connect with my ancestral roots…" Ekitc said, again showing the intelligence that Feyd wished his apprentice would employ in more than just situations that involved demolishing his personal rival.

"Yes, I believe that you should do so…" Feyd replied, smirking darkly as Ekitc nodded, turned and departed the ballroom completely. In the meantime he would gather what allies and favors he held through the Dark Council, and see what mustering he could do to bolster his own forces. If Zhar was plotting against him, then the Supreme Prophet wanted him crushed underfoot.

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Hermione was just overseeing the next in a long series of semi-fabricated generator stations when one of the engineers, monitoring the sensor station that they prepared when they had landed came running up to her.

"Ships have entered orbit around the planet," the man stated, carrying a datapad of the readout from the sensor tower.

"One of ours, or Imperial?" Hermione asked, already preparing mentally for the worst.

"Neither," the man replied, showing her the readout of the ship, which at a glance was not of any rebellion, Republic or Imperial design. "They are broadcasting on open frequency, and are not being terribly subtle about it either."

Hermione sighed. You just couldn't trust these people. "It's not safe to leave them up there, whoever they are. If the Empire gets drawn here before we're secure then not only will this base be compromised, but we'll be in danger, and that will threaten everything."

"Do we contact them, or chase them off?" the technician asked.

Hermione paused, decidedly uncertain. It was likely that these were the first in a tidal wave of new blood for the rebellion that others had begun forwarding to them, but at the same time it could be accidental, and either a smuggling or pirate organization meeting at random coordinates.

"Send up some ships and bring them down." She said after a time, "at the worst we will _obliviate_ them and send them on their way."

"Yes, Director," the man replied, walking away and following her orders immediately, sending out communication to the various pilots in the camp. Within minutes a squadron of fighters was in the air, speeding toward the last reported location of the ships, in order to escort them down to the surface.

Meanwhile, as she was paranoid of any chance that the Empire might be tipped off and be coming for her, Hermione had her shuttle prepared and fueled, just in case she and her command staff had to retreat back to Hoth.

Still, her fears started to be worn away as the large shuttlecraft was guided down by the rebel fighters, landing lightly on the newest landing pad that had been set and hardened. The large beings that emerged, smiling widely as they looked about at the forming base camp.

"I had heard that the new rebel base would be at these coordinates, but I have never suspected that an entire planet would be hidden from prying eyes." The leader, a Rodian, said as he approached Hermione. Inwardly, she sighed in relief; they were new recruits.

"Yes, well… no protection is secure enough in our current times…" she replied.

"I heartily agree," the Rodian said, antenna twitching in a pleased manner. "We were told that Director Hermione Granger, the founding leader of the rebellion would be here, through the various channels that we've eagerly listened to. We want to fight."

"I am she," Hermione affirmed, and many of the others behind their leader, a myriad of alien races, started to mutter excitedly among themselves.

"Commander Granger," the Rodian said, kneeling before her, "we will pledge ourselves to the cause. Do what you will, our lives are yours."

Noticing that many of them had a scanty collection of weapons, likely what could be illegally obtained in the light of the Empire's total ban on privately owned weapons, or any tool that could be used as a weapon, Hermione thought hard.

"We desperately need some people to scout out the planet, and see where it would be best to place our defenses. Orbital scans only did so much, and our engineers are too busy here getting the primary base in order to go out…" she started, and the Rodian leapt to his feet.

"Consider it done! Just supply us with ground vehicles and communication devices, and you will have a thorough scan of the planet as soon as possible." He said gleefully.

Appreciating the enthusiasm, Hermione nodded, directing the new recruits to the appropriate officers, who were in charge of their excess supplies and making sure that all were accounted for at all times.

"Cancel prepping my shuttle," Hermione said into her comlink moments later, once she was alone again, "there is no danger at the moment."

"Yes, Director…" her pilot replied.

Even as she returned to her work, ironing out the runework for a custom devise that would allow direct and secure communication between Hoth and the new base on Bakura. Throughout the rest of that day, she was summoned to allow or deny the arrival of three more shuttles of new rebels, all who were overjoyed to at last be able to have a place to express their irritation at the Empire.

It was heartening, and something that shone a bit of light into the gloom and shadow in Hermione's soul, which until now had been overcast by the malevolence that was Veneficus; the lying sociopath formerly known as Harry Potter.

"Director?" a voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts. Turning to look at the officer she put in charge of the new recruits, she smiled.

"Everything is completed for the day, shall we call all the new people back and let them have the evening to settle in?" he asked.

"Yes," Hermione agreed, tuning to look at the setting sun over the horizon. "Yes, there is much yet to prepare for, and we will all need what strength we can get…"

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Ist had a stretch of the longest hours she had ever experienced before, even as she and the other Republic and Rebellion soldiers prepared the two shuttles for takeoff. It was long, not because of the work in which she was engaged, but rather the debate and conflict in her own mind.

The decision loomed before her; go with Shade and the others back to Bakura, and the new base, or take the risk and Shade's second shuttle, and go to Dathomir, near to the center of the Imperial Core, and try to find this unknown, just on the chance that it might be a lost Jedi. There was much to be concerned about. She could easily give the coordinates to anyone in the group, but was it worth it to try and find someone who might already be dead after fighting against the Empire's assassins for an unknown amount of time.

The soldiers seemed to sense her internal struggle and said very little to Ist, leaving her to debate her path on her own, without trying to influence her one way or another. In a way, she was grateful, but at the same time she would have wanted any reason to not go through with what she was already planning.

She first noticed this when she started packing emergency rations and other survival gear into the second shuttle, almost unconsciously. She knew it was crazy, but there was something so enticing about seeking out this figure that Shade had shown her, and while she wasn't positive, she felt that the Force might be subtly egging her on to that choice.

Soon enough, the point of no return arrived, as Shade declared that everything was loaded and ready to go. "I have several charges planet throughout the Imperial outposts in the area," the being explained, "once I trigger the detonation, it will send out a chain reaction of electromagnetic pulses, shutting down all their electronics, their ships, and most importantly their sensors. Once that is done, we can slip out the blind spot and jump to Hyperspace before the fleet can move to cover the gap in their network."

Ist felt something just then, like a constricting vice encircling them all. "I sense… darkness closing in around us…" she said, turning to look around the room, almost thinking that something was in the room with them.

"We're running out of time," Shade stated, climbing into the first shuttle, "It's time for everyone to make their choice, are we going to your base, or what?""

Ist hesitated, before drawing a deep steadying breath, "I'm going to Dathomir," she announced, pulling a data disk from her robes, and handing it to Lieutenant Jezhala "These are the coordinates you need to find the new base. Broadcast the information there afterward, and someone will come to take you to the final destination of it once you arrive."

"Are you sure, young Jedi," Shade said, leaning back from the pilot's chair, "it might have been false information on that recording."

"I'm sure," Ist said, feeling more confident as she proceeded, "I have to find out for certain. Your ship will serve me just fine to get there and back, I hope…"

"Then this is where we part ways… don't wait too long after we lift off, the window will only be open for so long before power is restored to the Imperial bases." Shade said, flipping switches and pushing buttons to start the small shuttlecraft.

"May the Force be with you all…" Ist said, stepping back as the landing ramp start to close itself.

As soon as they started to lift from the ground, Ist rushed to the other shuttle, slipping into the cramped cockpit and starting up the engines. "I've activated the detonator, we'll have approximately two minutes before all power in this sector of planet is knocked out, then about ten before emergency power is established, you've got to get into the upper atmosphere before that time." Shade reported over the frequency shared between the shuttles.

"Understood," Ist replied, gentle taking the controls and lifting up off the ground, testing the maneuverability of the shuttle. It was surprisingly nimble for its size, and ought to be able to evade enemy attacks if needed. Granted, it lacked any real weapons or heavy armor, so speed was all it had in the means of defense, so Ist hoped that she didn't end up needing to use her skills to weave through an enemy blockade.

"Power spike through the sector, it's now or never, go!" Shade announced, and the roof to the base pulled open, the first shuttle zooming out into the open air. Ist pulled hard on the controls, navigating herself into a steep climb right behind the first shuttle.

Getting above the cloud line in the time limit wasn't the problem, it would be getting into position for the jump into Hyperspace before the Imperial Fleet moved to intercept. There was little chance that they would go unnoticed the moment they left orbit of the planet, and therefore Ist started the calculations immediately, plotting vector and determining the angle that she needed to face the shuttle in order to reach the next waypoint on her way to Dathomir, almost the exact opposite direction that the others would be heading.

"If we never meet again," Shade said over the intercom, "know that I greatly appreciated all that you do for the rebellion, my young Jedi friend, and all your Order."

"We will meet again," Ist said, confidence in the Force guiding her words.

"I hope that that will be the case." Shade replied, "time to go!" he said, even as the Imperial cruisers started around from the far side of the planet.

The first shuttle tore into Hyperspace, vanishing in a blur of light, and Ist turned the control hard, angling her ship the right way, and once she was clear of the gravitational pull of Ord Mantell, she punched the large button to engage the Hyperdrive.

The stars around her blurred into lines, and the oncoming ships, the planet, and what was supposed to be a simple mission all vanished behind her, as Ist started toward the unknown.

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Veneficus spent a great deal of time in thought, during the aftermath of eradicating Skarok-Nur from history of the Galaxy. It had taken a great deal of effort to make and prepare such a powerful spell, but even it was an illusion. He had combined, modified, and altogether altered the nature of the _Fideius_ Charm with the _Oblivate_ spell. Once cast, it erased the memory of the target, and in the process created a keeper for the secret identity within the caster.

So, in the end, only Veneficus would retain in memory the identity of his fallen foe, until the time that Veneficus himself was erased from this life… therefore forever.

But the problem now lay in the fact that, in a moment of weakness, Veneficus had revealed the secret of his immortality to Diábolis. This was a grave mistake, and he knew it. But the deed was done, and his fool of an apprentice knew the greatest weakness of his master.

There was no doubt in the Sith Lord's mind that the Devaronian was even now planning how best to use this information to dethrone Veneficus and reign over the Empire in his place. It had taken a great deal of effort to not eliminate the wayward apprentice where he stood and close that loose end, but Veneficus was patient.

Assassins could be sent at any time, but Veneficus desire to use his apprentice to the greatest extend that he could before finally eliminating him. Sending Diábolis to hunt the rebels would force his two greatest threats together, and once they made a move against him, he would crush them both utterly, ending every threat to his power.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to put a bit of pressure on his apprentice, to nudge him in the right direction with all haste. Calling up a personal hololink, Veneficus glared at the foolish being that ran the Imperial underbelly.

"I have a job for you…" he said slowly, concealing his voice and appearance in the shadows.

"Oh, and who are you wanting to put a bounty on?" the being asked, the slim that coated his aura in the Force almost palpable.

"It is a Sith Lord…" Veneficus said, enjoying the look of horror on the aliens face as he realized that this wasn't some petty hit on a Dark Adept, but one of the two leaders of the Empire.

"Are you mad?!" the being said, frightened, "the amount of money needed to make such a thing happen would be astronomical, let alone the suicidal nature of it!"

Leaning forward, and allowing the royal crest on his breast be visible, Veneficus smirked from under his hood, "I am well aware of the cost, and am willing to meet any price needed to fulfill my desire."

"I… um… well… as you wish, your Majesty…" the being stammered at last, cowering as he understood the full magnitude of what was being asked. Eventually he gave a price for what Veneficus desired, astronomical indeed, but well within the Emperor's ability to pay, especially when he never expected anyone to actually be able to collect.

Disconnecting the communication the moment that he had finalized the bounty on his apprentice, Veneficus sat back in his throne, pondering the full impact of what was about to rage through the Empire. He was not as oblivious to the movement of his underlings as they hoped he was. Each faction was moving simply as the Dark Side, commanded by Veneficus himself.

The Empire had served its purpose, as far as he was concerned, and ruling the Galaxy was only as useful as long as it provided him with more time to research the means to achieve the Sith's grandest scheme: eternal life.

He believed that there was soon to be a breakthrough in his research. It was growing quite apparent that the Dark Side, despite its great power, lacked the ability to truly grant life and vitality, without great price. He had read of the ancient Sith names as the Lords of Pain and Hunger, and while those fates would be useful for servants to keep them under control or in line, but they were not true methods that he would consider for an Eternal Emperor.

That left him one choice that he could investigate: the Light Side of the Force.

Should anyone within the Empire learn of this, the likelihood of betrayal would skyrocket, but Veneficus would do whatever was necessary for his goal, even learn to channel and command the Light Side as greatly and masterfully as the Dark. His theory was that eternal life would lie somewhere in the balance between Light and Dark.

He certainly had his work cut out for him in that effort however, as even the Jedi Holocrons required a great deal of effort on his part to convince the gatekeepers to reveal any of their secrets, and then even more if he sought to take those same secrets by force.

Still, despite the inherent power and seeming sentience that governed the Force, long use and study of the mysterious foundational energy that underlay the universe had led Veneficus to believe that there was more to it. He speculated that he could force the Light to answer to him, much as he commanded the Dark Side. There were plenty of references anciently regarding those first great Force users wielding both sides, and therefore he should be able to as well.

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Gor-lak growled to himself as another communication interrupted his meditations in his private chambers. Thus far, the slow pursuit of the rebels in the southern portion of the Galaxy was proving just as slow and difficult as it had been before, with the wily Flitwick evading him time and again, and his warriors were slowly growing disillusioned with the entire plan so far. If Gor-lak did not do something, he might start to lose much of the prestige that he had so recently won from the Emperor.

Answering the call, he restrained himself from growling at the being on the other end, "What is it?" he said, still expressing the frustration that he was experiencing.

"My Lord, there has been a series of disturbances on Dathomir, your facility might be in danger of exposure from both Imperial or other investigation." The female Dark Adept said.

The High Inquisitor grew very still, quickly thinking through the situation. He had an entire private base filled with things that would clearly appear to anyone as the possessed human seeking to overthrow the Empire and establish his own, and that was not the case. Gor-lak had collected a great amount of items from his old Empire, long before the Emperor of the Sith devastated the entire planet, and added to it a grand selection of trophies from his various victories, creating a sort of tomb or mausoleum for himself, but that part was the façade.

Within the interior of the underground cave network that he had taken control of, there was a full ritual chamber, set with all the materials that he could find, as well as a plethora of writings that Gor-lak had written with his own hand, recording and keeping the history of his people alive. Within the tomes that he created, was also a categorical recount of all the spells he had been taught, and recalled from the long history that he had reigned as Emperor, including many that were tied to life and death.

Hypothetically, he could use these spells to call back the souls of the dead, and allow them control and power over the world of the living once more, and it could easily be construed that he planned to unleash an army of the dead upon the Galaxy in a bid for his own power.

While the thought had struck him, from the earliest time he worked with the Sith that he could do this, he had quickly decided against it, as it was clear that the Sith Lords would be more than capable of defeating his forces, especially in their weakened state as freshly returned to this world.

Still, perceptions of those fanatically loyal to the Emperor would not see it that way, and the enemies of the Empire would use it as means to destroy Gor-lak at the worst. Because of this, his desire to abandon the south front of the Galaxy and double back to defend his safe house, but at the same time he couldn't make it obvious what he was retreating up north for.

After silencing the communication, he immediately started looking through the massive log of recent events in the Empire, specifically looking for any mention of rebels in the north, near to Dathomir.

The system itself had nothing; no mention of disquiet or any sort of activity that could warrant the Inquisitorial fleet's intervention. The nearest conflict was Ord Mantell, where the Republic was being slowly eliminated from the Galaxy. There was something, not necessarily a garentee of rebel activity, but logged record indicated that another ship had initiated a small skirmish, and had damaged several Imperial ships before escaping.

"Helmsmen, prepare the Hyperdrive, we are going to Ord Mantell," he said, hailing the bridge immediately.

"Ord Mantell, my Lord?" the man replied, confused.

"Yes, there are rebels affecting the last remnant of the war," Gor-lak explained briefly, before ending the call.

Even as the ship started to turn, the human-encased ork lit several incense burners, sinking into a magical trance and attempting several spells to locate the presence of the rebels.

It was difficult, as he couldn't use the concept of the Force to locate them. There were simply too many Dark Adepts throughout the Galaxy that would throw off his spell, but…

A thought came to his mind, an idea to be able to track the Jedi specifically. For it to work however, he would require a sample of a Jedi lightsaber crystal, and while he was hesitant to bother the Emperor once again with nothing of note to show for his effort, but the Imperial Palace was the last location that he knew that would have those sorts of crystals on hand, and available for his ritual.

"Correction," he said, re-signaling the bridge, "return to Coruscant, there is something new that has come up, and the Emperor will want to hear of this potential breakthrough…"

This time the admiral at the helm didn't question him, simply responded with the affirmative, and soon enough their ship adjusted once more, before finally initiating the jump to light speed.

If this concept turned out how Gor-lak suspected it would, he might have just solved the problem of locating the hidden rebel base, as well as tracking all their enemies through the Galaxy.

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Euka was mildly surprised at the speed to which she and Zhar hastened back to Korriban. Granted, the two systems were not terribly far apart, but the pilot seemed to waste absolutely no time in getting them back to the dusty tomb-ridden world.

Nevertheless, there seemed to be a distinct lack of time for Zhar the moment they landed, within seconds of the landing ramp being down he was out and striding purposefully toward the massive structure of the academy. Euka had to run in order to keep pace with his long strides.

"It is imperative that we start immediately in searching for the secret of the Sith," he said softly, keeping their conversation as private as possible as soldiers saluted and other Dark Adepts made a path for them as the High Prophet of the system and his apprentice crossed the open sand to the massive temple.

"I presume that you've already commenced in the library here, so where shall I assist you, my master?" Euka asked, wondering what the human had in mind for their search.

"Since I had little ability to just scour the tomes there without being interrupted or questioned, I've barely made a dent in the vast collection there," Zhar admitted, "and even still, I worry that the Emperor has already removed whatever information there might be there, but there is a great deal to do just there; however, I want you to directly oversee the excavation of tombs and caves around the Valley, and make absolutely sure that whether there is any mention of the desire of the Sith as an organization."

Euka nodded, understanding the reasoning for her master's desire. If they could divide their attention between the library and the ancient tombs that they had at their fingertips that they had to find at least some sort of hint to their goal, or else a clue of where to go next to further the search.

Together, master and apprentice entered the vastness of the Korriban Academy library, where row upon row of ancient tomes and scrolls lay upon shelves in the dark and torch-lit room. Very little of Sith history or knowledge had been recorded on datapads, and while there was an extensive group of Dark Adepts working tirelessly to transcribe as much as they could into a digital format, the sheer amount was daunting.

"So many…" Euka breathed, only now realizing the work before them.

"Yes, and an unknown amount of time in which to find what we seek." Zhar added, starting toward the rearmost shelves, out of view of the translators and others in the library seeking knowledge.

Euka started to follow, but a small disturbance in the Force caught her attention, and she turned back, "What now?" she asked.

Zhar turned, and Euka could sense her master reaching out to the Force to understand what the matter was. "Feyd…" he said, "the Supreme Prophet has sent his apprentice to cause us trouble…"

"But why?" Euka asked, growing irritable at just the idea of Ekitc coming here so soon after her showing him up in the skirmish on Dromund Kaas.

And then, the thought of the battle reminded Euka that she couldn't remember everything regarding why they were fighting in that battle and that disturbed her greatly.

"Clearly the Supreme Prophet thinks were up to our own political maneuvering that might undermine his precious coup…" Zhar said with a sigh, even as they left the library once more.

"The Supreme Prophet is trying to betray the Emperor?" Euka asked quietly, very surprised at this information.

"It's the way of the Dark Side; those with power constantly strive to increase their power…" Zhar explained, "There are several other, smaller factions throughout the Empire vying for the same goal, but Feyd's is by far the largest. He'd approached me a long time ago, but I rebuffed him, as survival is my primary concern, and now he must suspect that we are forming our own faction to oppose him."

"So we are now engaged in battle with them regardless of the truth, simply because they are paranoid." Euka surmised.

"Yes, and regardless of what we desire or what we choose to do in response, it will only confirm it for them." Zhar added.

They exited the academy once more, having accomplished nothing of their original goal, just in time to see a shuttle coming to a landing far away from the structure, in the central area of the tombs.

"The question is, what are they planning?" Zhar asked himself.

"If the Supreme Prophet is using his apprentice, it won't be terribly subtle…" Euka informed him, "For all his raw strength, Ekitc is about as cautious and intelligent as a rancor…"

"Then we will use that to our advantage, and make sure that he is distracted from whatever goal he has come to achieve." Zhar concluded, calling over several Dark Adepts.

"The Supreme Prophet's apprentice has just landed out in the Valley of the Dark Lords, go and monitor his activities, and report to me regularly, I do not trust what he is up to…" Zhar instructed.

"Yes, my Lord." The adepts responded eagerly, clearly more than willing to earn a bit of prestige with the leader of their planet.

Euka smirked. Granted she had been much the same way during the early period of her apprenticeship to Zhar, but she had risen above that, earned his favor, and was now the closest being in the Galaxy in his confidence. These other fools had no chance to truly win over the Lord of Korriban.

"With that taken care of, I suppose we ought to finalize our strategy for dealing with this young upstart for good, as well as how to proceed with our research at the same time…" Zhar said, watching a larger group of hopefuls and initiates start flocking to the Adepts that he had given the orders to.

"Indeed we shall…" Euka replied, turning and following her master back into the academy as the man disappeared out from under the harsh sun of Korriban.

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Fury was still unsure when he and his forces were ordered to remain with Darth Diábolis for the time being. The battles against the strange forces that had threatened the Empire were over, so much to the point where Fury himself couldn't seem to remember exactly what it had been that they were fighting. That was odd, as hadn't the fight not been too long ago?

Still, with that finished he ought to have received a reassignment order, preferable somewhere that he could bath Calamity in blood and violence to truly hone the massive troll into a finely tuned weapon of the Dark Side. However, that seemed to not be the case.

Standing on the bridge of the Sith Apprentice's flagship, the Marauder watched the actions of the officers and troopers as they flitted about, checking the instruments of the vessel and navigating them through Hyperspace toward their southern destination.

According to the brief meeting that took place with all the commanding officers aboard the ship, Fury included, Diábolis was tasked with aiding in the hunt for the last remaining Jedi and Rebels in the southern regions of the Galaxy, although not directly working with the strange human High Inquisitor named Gor-lak.

Where that one had come from, Fury was not certain. The human had come with the Emperor from his homework sometime before the war with the Republic, and among the Sith he had remained. Fury wasn't even certain whether the mysterious Inquisitor was even a Force wielder, or some sort of sorcerer like the Emperor himself.

Still, they were not dealing with that strange one, and so Fury put the oddity of that man out of his mind. Apparently they were stopping off first in a still neutral world, Triton. From all accounts this was just a stop off before they made a clearer decision, because the barren world was no more useful to the rebels as it was to the Empire.

Still, there was no harm in being extra vigilant. Calling several of his personal Black Fist, the Dark Adepts that served him alone and were the elite of all Marauders throughout the Empire, with only a handful of exception, Fury set a series of drills for them to accomplish once the ship had stopped off at the intended destination. With a bit of luck they might find a nest of pirates to eliminate at the worst, at best they would be lucky and encounter some of their actual enemies to engage.

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Yoda had a bad feeling about the scheduled stop that they were taking, on their way north to another rebel friendly system. The barren world of Triton was about as lifeless as a molten rock in space, except for the native inscectoids. However, they had little wish to interact with the outside Galaxy, so the Rebellion simply left them to their own devices, which suited everyone perfectly.

There was a difference in the Force when they arrived however. Something was incredibly off about the entire section of space, and Yoda did not like it at all. "Plot the next jump, quickly we should," he advised Admiral Weasley, who seemed to appear as agitated as Yoda himself was regarding the stillness of this section of space.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that…" the red haired man said, tearing himself away from looking out of the viewport and conversing with his navigators.

Before they jumped away however, the long range sensor that detected approaching Imperial coded ships sounded its alarm. "Category two Imperial fleet approaching!" the officer in front of the console yelled, causing the entire bridge to go into a panic.

"Raise shields! Get those coordinates plugged in, and start calculating the jump!" Admiral Weasley said, leaping into action and clamping down on his subordinates' fears. "I want us to be in the process of jumping by the time those Imperial ships get here, understood!"

"Yes Sir!" the bridge rang with replied, even as an agitated calm settled across the bridge.

Yoda closed his eyes, briefly tapping into the Force to try and detect who it might be approaching them. The prospects were bad. The heavy infusion of Darkness meant it had to be an upper ranking member of the Imperial ranks, a High Prophet at least, if not more. At the least it was not the Emperor, against whom they'd stand no chance whatsoever.

"Sir, they're leaving Hyperspace earlier than calculated!" the officer at the sensors declared, even as the ships appeared in real space outside their viewport.

"How long on those coordinates?!" Weasley shouted.

"Just another few moments!" the technician replied, tapping furiously on his console.

"We've been spotted!" the sensor officer called, just as the technician let out a whoosh of air, punching in the last command, and their ship started into Hyperspace immediately, the stars around them blurring and the ships in front of them disappearing from view completely.


	15. C14: Convergence

**Many thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter, especially those who pointed out small mistakes** **that I missed for one reason or** **another. It is highly appreciated! Enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

 **Convergence**

Veneficus did not even bother with going to meet with the returning Inquisition fleet. He had already foreseen that Gor-lak would come for a saber crystal, and had given instruction for one of the plundered Jedi saber crystals to be given for his seeking incantations. The ork in human flesh, and his need for constant contact with the Emperor was to go unfulfilled.

The Sith Emperor had already seen what he planned with the small crystal, and even if it was lost it would matter little. "The opportunities vastly outweigh the risks…" he said to the spirits that continually attended him.

Long had he been tempted to conjure forth more of the ancient Sith and bind them to his will, increasing his power, but at the same time he already had much to deal with regarding the self corrupting degradation of the Dark Side. He quickly was growing toward the point where he had to consume Elixir of Life once a week just from standard life, not even factoring in combat or extensive ritual.

And while he eagerly wanted to scour the Galaxy for the secret of immortality, there was a level of need for him to turn his attention away from the quest of the Sith. " _The Jedi are growing in power again…_ " said Marka Ragnos, the hybrid Emperor of ancient times appearing before Veneficus, " _they alone remain as threats to your rule, and the path that you seek…_ "

Veneficus refrained from sighing. The ghosts of the ancients seemed to have little in the ways of true insight after so many years of haunting him, but the strength in the Dark Side that their presence granted him was paramount for his research, as well as maintaining his rule. None in the Empire could best him while he lived, the sum total of five great Sith Lords rolled into one being.

Briefly, he considered looking for the Jedi with Force, sweeping the Galaxy system by system, but it would be a fruitless effort. He already understood that Granger had utilized the concealing and shielding techniques of their home world, which had power over even the Force's ability to sense what lay beneath, and any stragglers would be long gone before he had the chance to send out his followers to eliminate them.

No, better to leave the chase to those he had already given the task, and not pamper them by doing it himself. There were far greater matters that he could spent his time on, barring the research into the Force for the secrets of life and death.

Supreme Prophet Feyd and the coup that the man was foolishly trying to raise against him; for example, was indeed was something that Veneficus might have to start paying attention to. The man who ran Veneficus' Empire thought himself rising high enough to usurp the throne on his own, with no skill with the blade or personal power in the Dark Side to back him up, just the political masses that would easily abandon him for someone who gave them a better deal.

It was part of the reason that Veneficus had allowed himself to fade from view of the public so rapidly. Political power was only as needful as when one lacked the strength of arms or knowledge in the Force to enforce one's will.

The fool thought Veneficus blind in his self imposed withdrawal from society, and in that the Supreme Prophet was direly wrong. Retiring further into his citadel, Veneficus took to the northeastern tower, which had been transformed into a network of spying and watching probes that were scattered through the core worlds of the Sith Empire.

Tapping instructions and command onto the keys of a massive console, which sent the signals to countless of probes in Korriban, Dromund Kaas, as well as the other worlds that formed the core of the Empire. Specifically, Veneficus wanted to spy on his wayward servant, Zhar Quelmok, who would quickly become the primary enemy of Feyd, as the paranoid Supreme Prophet fell into the trap that had consumed countless generations of Sith long before him.

It was almost amusing, watching the preliminaries of an outright civil war between the two most powerful councilors of the Dark Side, and Veneficus wanted to have a front row seat as they decimated each other.

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Euka calmly waited outside one of the deeper tombs in the Valley of the Dark Lords, wondering when Ekitc Batoi would finally decide that whatever he was seeking was not there and emerge once more.

She and Zhar had been watching Ekitc's progress through the Valley of the Dark Lords closely, even as the foolish Sith pureblood tried vainly to discover some hint of deception or treachery. Naturally none of the archeologists or Adepts on the planet would have aided him, their loyalty bent only to their High Prophet.

Still, it was annoying that the fool was on their world, and that was why she was here now, waiting at the only entrance to this particular cave network, to challenge him directly and find out what he hoped to find, or pin upon them.

Still, the muted irritation of the task did not stop her from grinning widely when the crimson, bald head of the Sith Pureblood finally appeared. Ekitc Batoi was glowing as he departed the tomb, dusting himself off from the ancient air that pervaded these places.

"Careful, that's history you're brushing off so casually," Euka said, eagerly accepting the hate that wafted off her rival as he finally noticed her presence.

"Euka…" the Sith sneered, his saber hilt flashing to his hand. Euka stilled herself, her own weapon in hand as well. All joking had ceased between them, and now it was business.

"Ekitc…" Euka replied, standing slowly and turning to face him fully, "What are you doing here?"

It didn't surprise her when half of his weapon ignited, and she reacted in kind, their crimson blades crackling as they crossed, each pointing dangerously toward the other. "You and your master are clearly uniting the world of Korriban against the Supreme Prophet, and by extension the Emperor himself." The fool accused, "I will find what you are up to, and destroy your little rebellion before it has a chance to threaten our Empire."

Euka almost wanted to laugh. It was exactly as she and Zhar had imagined, if not more so. They dared to think that they had the moral high ground, when Supreme Prophet Feyd was the largest warmonger among the Dark Council, trying to coax them into his ranks from the beginning.

Still, she had a role to play, in dissuading this fool from finding anything of actual merit, and if it meant pushing him toward what he was already thinking of finding, then so be it. Zhar had already made preparations to the effect of their need to actually mount a resistance against the Supreme Prophet, as the aggressive human was not willing to simply leave them be.

"And you honestly think that we'd leave anything of worth languishing around in the tombs for you to find?" she said scathingly, and it was true. In the event that they had much to actually hide from Ekitc, the tombs of Korriban would be the most insecure and pointless places for them to secret anything.

"I've only just begun by investigation, and you would do well to keep out of my way, lest I decide that your hostility is paramount to armed resistance in and of itself…" the Pureblood threatened.

"You'd just enjoy that, now wouldn't you," Euka shot back, fighting the urge to just eliminate him here and now, and postpone the problems that they would inevitably have with the  
Supreme Prophet.

So long as she kept Ekitc here however, Zhar had all the more time to sift through the tomes in the academy, and possibly find something of worth to their real objective, and understand more of the Emperor's mind, and whether he was planning their utter extinction anytime soon.

"You have no right to make threats here…" Euka added, even as other Dark Side Adepts from the ranks stationed on the planet arrived in response to the commotion. The pair of them would have been recognizable, and their rivalry was known throughout the Galaxy, but here, where Zhar's word was law, they would have no choice but to back Euka if a fight broke out.

Withdrawing from their crossed sabers and sheathing his own, Ekitc sneered at her, "Just hope that you are taken down along with your traitorous master." He said, turning away and striding off on his own, heading toward yet another section of the archeologist's digs.

Euka smirked, knowing that she had thoroughly interrupted whatever thought process that the Pureblood had, and it would slow him down before he went to the Academy, and directly tried to speak with Zhar.

Her job here done, she turned back toward the waiting speeder, and its protection from the hot sun above. Let the fool grub about in the desert a little longer, she was returning to her chamber for a time, to refresh herself from the dust and grime of the planet and perhaps find something to eat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diábolis glared down at the star map before him, which still pinged with its annoying message, desiring to know where he wished to steer his personal starship. He had left his fleet in a course that would run through the eastern scope of the Galaxy, where he was certain that the Rebellion was not operating, while he himself was planning to take several side trips.

Why he was doing this was simple. In the height of Veneficus' power, the Sith Lord had catalogued a great deal of hidden tombs and ruins that were tied to the Order of the Sith, and while he had gathered artifacts and knowledge from many of these, allowing Dark Adepts to scour them for every scrap of history that they had until there was next to nothing left, there were still a great deal that he had specifically forbidden anyone to investigate.

Even Diábolis did not know the specific reasons that the Emperor quarantined these different places and planets, but if there was even a chance that one of these held some weapon or knowledge that he could use against Veneficus, he had to take that chance.

His first stop, the planet Vjun, was a place where an active Sith cult had existed for hundreds of years. On the boarder of the pre-war Neo-Sith Empire's territory, it was currently being heavily investigated by their adepts, but because of its distance from the Core of the Empire, it only now had started any serious investigations.

The problem was not so much the Emperor, who had permitted the planet to be excavated, but the natural acidic rain that threatened any and everything that wasn't specifically protected from the corrosive weathering of the planet.

Therefore, its many Dark Side locations were mostly unexplored, and the Sith apprentice hoped to find some secret before it was completely uncovered and destroyed by the probing hands of the Empire.

Stars blurred as he finally punched in the coordinates of the acidic planet, and sped away toward what he hoped would be an enlightening experience with the power of the Dark Side, and perhaps a lead toward something that would aid him in matching his master in the raw strength of the Force.

Many baubles and other items tended to be found easily in these places, but it would be a tome or scrolls that interested Diábolis the most. Lost knowledge that could be used by him exclusively, from some ancient wielder of the Dark Side, teaching techniques that his master was still unaware of, and might give him an edge in countered the raw strength that Veneficus possessed.

Within hours, his personal shuttle pulled back out of Hyperspace over the planet, and he coasted into the atmosphere easily enough, the heavy, green rainfall already looking as sickeningly deadly as it was.

Even as Diábolis slowly circled the facility that the Empire was funding to start the excavation process, a covered landing platform appeared, the entire platform rising to allow him to land, before sinking down and being covered by ferrocrete to protect his ship from the constant rainfall.

More or less ignoring the being that came to welcome him, the Sith Lord quickly disembarked from his ship and the hangar altogether, stretching out with the Dark Side to find a suitable destination on the planet.

"My Lord?" the being asked insistently, running to catch up to Diábolis. Sighing impatiently, the Sith stopped and turned to glare at the Bith that had chased him.

"I…" the being stammered, realizing his predicament of holding up a powerful Force user, "I just wanted to know if you required your ship to be refueled…"

Diábolis took only half a second to look at the bulbous-headed alien, in the orange overalls of a hangar worker. "If you honestly think you need to ask that question, then I have to wonder why you have the job you do…" he responded, making the Bith flinch back.

"Yes, right… of course, my Lord," the worker responded, backing off and turning back toward the hangar.

Watching him retreat for a moment, Diábolis allowed the fool to fade from his mind, and returned his attention to the task he had come for. Reaching out with the Dark Side, the Devaronian Sith Lord felt the twinkling reactions across the planet, even as the tombs and ruins of the long forgotten cults reacted to a powerful user of the same energy.

The surprise that came to him; however, was that the greatest reaction to his probes came from under the ground, far out in the acidic wasteland. It was puzzling, and as Diábolis had no frame of reference to know exactly what he was sensing. It was not unrealistic to think that other Dark Adepts had sensed the same, and they along with the archeologists were seeking for that very place.

In order to find whatsoever group may be working toward unearthing that very vault or underground ruin, Diábolis went to the administration of the hangar compound, which would have records of who came and went on this world. At the same time, erasing his own presence here would be necessary if he was to remain inconspicuous in his activities.

"Greetings, my Lord," the secretary droid said as he approached, "I am D4-3B7, how might I serve you?"

"I require information regarding the current investigating projects on this planet," Diábolis said quickly, keeping his hood up and refraining from revealing his identity. The fewer who knew that he himself had visited this planet, the better for his secrecy.

"Of course, my Lord," the droid replied neutrally, probably having already scanned his identity and knowing that the apprentice to the Emperor had all rights to anything anywhere.

"Also, I want no record of my appearance here to be made, matter of security…" Diábolis added, figuring that the droid would be swayable enough to remove the record of his appearance even from its own databanks.

"Yes, my Lord," the droid responded, pushing over a datapad that contained all the known sites that archeologists and Dark Adepts were excavating. Diábolis turned and walked away, even as the droid rebooted itself after deleting all record of the interaction and copying of coordinates.

Perusing the layout of the nearest ruins and temples that were being excavated, Diábolis found one that was nearest the rough location of what he had sensed. It was one of the furthest from the hangar system, and very remote. A twinge of warning in the Force told Diábolis that something might be happen if and when he went there, but for the sake of finding the source of that strong Dark Side nexus he would go regardless.

Chartering a speeder to the site was rather tricky, as he needed to once again find one that was automated, as any living driver would ask undesirable questions, and even Dark Adepts had to pay typically for such services, although Diábolis' would be exempt from such fees.

He also wanted to make sure, aside from the rain, that the speeder was well armored and protected, just in case he had to make a quick getaway. The speeder zoomed across the landscape, avoiding pools of toxic and dangerous water as well as keeping to whatever overhangs and cover that it could find.

There were certainly quicker routes, ones that a biological driver might have taken, but the droid was rather set in the route that it would take, and Diábolis was content that at the least it would be something less obvious if there was anyone who had taken notice of his appearance on this world.

Still, it was a decent amount of time before he finally arrived at the site, which he was not surprised to find a ruin covering the actual site, and likely used by the researchers as their covering from the near constant rainfall. "Remain here and wait for me to return," Diábolis ordered the droid, which affirmed his orders and put the speeder down under a small makeshift covering, where other speeders were parked and shut down. They were likely those of the Dark Adepts and archeologists, but Diábolis paid them no mind.

Venturing swiftly into the ruins, Diábolis swept the area with the Force to locate the other life forms within, and was mildly surprised to find them far under the ground, in some subterranean level of the ruin, and very near to the source of the Dark Side nexus that had attracted him to this location in the first place.

The strange thing was that despite passing several sensors that were clearly meant to notify the workers of a visitor's approach did not engage a reaction from those life signs down below. It put Diábolis on edge.

Pulling his twinblade saber from his belt, he cautiously made his way onward. The floodlights that illuminated the passages ahead were angled in such a way that long shadows were cast along the left side of the chambers and corridors, but the right was bathed in light, revealing the murals and hieroglyphics that told of the ancient cults that existed for thousands of years on Vjun, and their exploits. Try as he might to focus on the task at hand, Diábolis couldn't help but have his attention drawn to several of them.

From what he could gather at a cursory glance here and there, the site was built over an ancient treasure, one that had been secreted away for some time, and with the corresponding Dark Side aura in the underground levels, Diábolis was inclined to believe them. The motif of a fox was everywhere as well, which led him to suspect that the ancient families that once ruled Vjun were somehow linked to this place.

Several times, he bypassed ancient and disarmed traps, clear markers that something was being protected this far down into the ruins, and it served only to heighten his guard. When he finally arrived at the final chamber, where the life signatures originated, Diábolis sucked in a small breath of surprise as he discovered that he had severely overestimated the skill of the workers that had been sent to this site. Dozens of beings lay dead and dying across the floor, slash marks and stab wounds littering their bodies. Even a handful of Dark Adepts, clearly sent as guards for the workers were killed, their bodies looted and their lightsabers missing.

And yet there were signatures of life all around him, Diábolis sensed through the Force, which meant only one thing. Assassins.

Activating his twinblade, Diábolis allowed the room to bath in its crimson glow. "I sense your presence…" he seethed, trying to pinpoint just how many he was against, and where precisely they were hiding. "You may have succeeded against these fools, but not so against me… I am a Dark Lord of the Sith, and I know no equal in the skills of combat."

Silence was his only response, but there was a tightening in the Force that generally accompanied when battle was about to begin, the deep breath before the strike as it was called. The moment passed, and Diábolis sensed the movement of his enemies, even as half a dozen masked humans leapt from the high ceiling at him.

Two men and four women, armed with vibroblades, and the lightsabers of their former foes charged him, their speed incredible for all their lack of power within the Force. Diábolis spun, deflecting the first few attacks, and kicking savagely at the third opponent to approach him, creating an open for which to escape through.

Wheeling through his escape from the initial rush, Diábolis allowed himself a moment's reprieve, gathering the Dark Side fully to his side, and then surged back into the fray, allowing both blades of his deadly weapon to spin and twirl in tight arcs around his body.

While these assassins were no armatures in their craft, the wielding of lightsabers made their attacks clunky and slow in comparison, and it was a simple task to deflect the energy weapons. Their blades however were much more precise, and within the first few moments Diábolis backed off with thin slits in his robes and a very real knowledge that these foes were not to be underestimated.

And so he stopped playing around. Leaping high into the air, he dove like an impaling bolt at the rearmost assassin, slamming boots first into the woman's chest, knocking her viciously to the ground, and removed an arm at the elbow before slamming a crimson blade through her sternum and into the stone floor of the chamber.

Withdrawing his weapon swiftly, Diábolis turned, catching three more attackers with a volley of Sith Lightning, throwing them back and clearly stunning them from the electrical assault. The remaining two attempted to flank him, one on each end, but even as the rushed him, the Sith Lord dodged out of the way, using the force the pull the pair together, and impaling each of them upon their ally's weapons.

Throwing the pair aside, so that they could die from their own injuries, the Devaronian faced off against the clearly shaken and weakened three, and he sensed the fracture in their moral at already losing half their number to a single combatant.

Yet there was something else in their mess of emotion: respect, and a large amount of fear. They understood that Diábolis was a force to be reckoned with, and while they would continue the fight, the Sith Apprentice sensed that they had accepted that he would win in the end, and that nothing they did could change that inevitability.

He refused to disappoint them. Rushing in, he swept the legs out from under the remaining male assassin, and stabbed upward, skewering another female in the abdomen, even as his formed a fist with his free hand. The clatter of weapons from the last woman accompanied her own hands flying to her throat, although there was nothing that she could do to stop the Sith from strangling the life from her.

Except she was not alone; Diábolis staggered forward, as the man he had tripped slammed bodily into him, breaking his concentration and allowing his partner to collapse, unconscious but still alive from the telekinetic attack.

The man suffered for his gallantry, and his screams filled the chamber as Diábolis unleashed a torrent of lightning into his body, allowing the ability to channel and watching in eager pleasure as the lithe body of the would-be assassin flailed on the ground in agony.

"Enough! We yield!" a female voice rang out, surprising Diábolis. Ceasing his torment of the man, he turned to see a seventh figure, another woman, cautiously approaching him with raised arms and no weapons in sight.

"And I should spare any of you for what reason?" Diábolis hissed in reply, more than willing to follow through on that, unless this woman offered him something of value to spare them.

"We have a vast network of spies and assassins," the woman said swiftly, already regaining her composure as Diábolis relaxed, sensing the true desire to survive, and the intense pride that she held in her minions.

"And what is that to me? I am a Sith Lord…" Diábolis pressed, wondering just how far the woman would go to protect her own invested interests in their grouping.

"We've worked for Sith before," she said, removing the hooded mask and pulling loose hair behind her ear, "Perhaps it is time to ally the Mecrosa Order with one once again."

That caused Diábolis pause. The Mecrosa Order of Assassins was something he had heard of before, although he had thought that they were extinct, lost long ago with the wars between the Jedi and Exar Kun. Apparently they survived, likely retreating into the shadows and waiting to build up once again.

There could be advantages to such an order of spies serving him, if they could be trusted. And even if he couldn't trust them, Diábolis could think of a number of uses for their warriors and informants.

"Then what is hidden in this ruin, which you were so protectively guarding?" Diábolis asked, giving no clear indication that he had as of yet accepted their bargain, although he had already accepted it in his own mind.

"A star map, which gives the coordinates to an ancient vault that even the Sith Emperor has not gone to nor investigated." The woman responded.

"We might just be able to work something out," Diábolis said finally, smirking at the relief that surged through the force from the woman. They were weak willed, to be sure, but hopefully their skills were still that that legend made them out to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist looked down at the world of Dathomir. Despite being relatively near to the heart of the Imperial Core, the world had not been overwhelmingly populated, mainly used as the training facility for the ranks of Dark Assassins that were spread throughout the Empire, hunting insurgents and others that would be ready allies of the Rebellion.

Aside from the strange Jedi-like figure that she had seen in recording, Ist had been carefully forming a plan to potentially shut down the training facility altogether, and deprive the Empire of their lethal assassins. Any damage that she could cause would only benefit the Rebellion, as the assassins had been instrumental in destroying many of their allies and connections throughout Sith space, as well as the more neutral leaning organizations, like the Hutt Cartel.

The lucky part was that, with the lack of civilization being present on the planet with small exception, she was able to approach without being detected, and find a suitably isolated location to land and shroud her ship from detection.

From there, came the challenge of actually locating where the report and the recording of the strange figure actually originated. The problem with that was, barring any method of hacking into the Imperial network, which Ist had no skill in whatsoever, she was forced to venture into the training facility and discover where the report came from.

There at least, some of the skills she had fostered in tribute to the race and clans she was born to. She had never known the culture or society of the Bothans, but from what she had read, they were experts in the methods of subtlety and espionage, and she had high hopes of becoming a Jedi Shadow, and putting those skills to use for the benefit of the Light. But that had been before the war, and now times were different.

Still, if she was going to get into the imperial facility and find the information she sought, all without being detected as a Jedi, she had her work cut out for her.

Moving swiftly through the overgrown jungles of the planet, Ist kept to the shadows, wrapping the Force around her to prevent others from detecting her, but retaining her own ability to perceive others as they approached. It was a skill that many had mastered in part, but she had specifically spent time to adapt the flowing meditative technique to its pinnacle.

Because of this, her progress was slower, but she was able to avoid even the most subtle of Dark Adepts as they ventured into the deeper part of the jungle-like foliage for their own reasons, never once suspecting that a Jedi was on their planet, let alone so close.

In fact, she was able to pass close enough to several groups to even overhear conversations, ranging from new speeder designs, all along various topics that were of various levels of unimportance to her cause.

That changed when she neared the facility that all the patrols were stemming from, where she had to stop and think of a way to enter the compound, and also heard something interesting to her. A pair of guards, non-Force sensitive from what she guessed, was posted outside the main entrance, and chatting to each other between groups of adepts entering and leaving the facility.

"So," one said, "you hear about the thing out in the jungle that is slaughtering the students?"

"Yeah," the other replied, after another group entered and the doors sealed themselves again, "apparently it takes the lightsabers from its prey and uses them against all future hunters… the High Prophet has a massive bounty on its head, and is willing to promote anyone who defeats it to her personal apprentice…"

"Heh, think of what might happen if one of us takes it down, rather than a student," the first guard retorted with a snort, "what will she do then?"

Whoever 'she' was, Ist did not know, but if the High Prophet was involved in searching for the unknown figure who had the skills of a powerful Jedi, then it meant that Ist had to work quickly to find them and escape the planet again.

Making her decision quickly, Ist rose quickly and walked forward dutifully, almost holding her breath to hope that the guards don't look too closely at the coloration and design of her robes, which while faded and grey rather than the traditional tan and brown of the Jedi Order, were still a very different style.

Thankfully, the guards seemed to have been ordered not to speak to or around the students, and they ignored her completely as she entered the complex. Despite that; however, Ist did not feel any safer. She needed to find a much better disguise. Carefully avoiding anyone, she made her way through the complex, searching for some sort of cleaning station for clothing, where she might find a change of robes for something less conspicuous.

It took some doing, but eventually she figured out a suitable location to find them, and after a quick rummaging through the freshly laundered robes she found one that fit well enough. It was oddly disturbing that the taint of the Dark Side was still upon them even after cleaning, but Ist put them on regardless, hoping that the faint aura would only help to shroud her presence as she searched for a console of some sort that she could search for information.

A handful of times she got very close to where Dark Adepts were congregated. While it was agitating to be in such close proximity to so many followers of the Emperor, Ist trusted in the Force. Through her technique of masking herself, she passed under their notice without garnering any attention, slowly sifting through the ranks as she passed through the academy compound, seeking an archive or library that might have the information she sought.

When she finally how such a location, a little nook that held a few reference materials and perhaps a guarded area with Holocrons or something else precious to these Darksider, she quickly took control of a console and started typing away, just generally browsing for information regarding the bounty on the unknown figure.

Finding the contract was simple enough, but the issue was that any reference for the details directed a student of the academy to seek out their overseer and petition for the hunt in person. Naturally this wouldn't work for Ist, seeing as she was neither a student nor a Dark Side Adept at all, so she reread the details provided in the announcement.

Just as the guards had said outside, there was a hefty reward waiting for whoever killed this unknown individual, and it was placed specifically by the High Prophet in charge of Dathomir. Thinking quickly, Ist reasoned that the High Prophet would have ultimate authority and access to anything in the Imperial network here, and if she could slip in and use a console within the head's chambers, she might be able to access the information she sought without something even more dangerous being required.

Pulling up a map of the academy swiftly, Ist downloaded it to a spare, blank datapad that she carried with her for such purposes, and quickly shut off the console, departing before another group of students entered the area.

Following the map closely, Ist was able to navigate around the centralized areas, where most of the body of people ought to have congregated, and made her way to the upper levels, where the administration offices and governing bodies met and discussed. This world, like all those of the Sith Core, had its own body of twelve councilors, called the Prophets of the Dark Side, and at their head was a High Prophet, who also was a member of the Dark Council, reporting directly to the Emperor the activities of the Empire.

It would not be an easy matter to find an open console here, especially if the council was not in session, and from a casual glance as the lift arrived on the upper level, guards were everywhere, both Force Sensitive and those who were not.

But, even as she bolstered her courage to proceed, one o the doors opened, and a woman stepped out, holding an air of authority that made even the guards quiver at her approach. "Lord Gor-lak is sending a message," she informed them, "I will take it in the Council Chamber, alongside the other prophets, and we are not to be disturbed until the meeting is concluded."

"Yes, my Lord," the guard said sharply, "as you wish."

What luck! Ist edged forward as the High Prophet departed, alongside several other robed and clearly strong Dark Side wielders, as they moved down the corridor and out of sight. The guards followed, leaving the area vacant for the moment, but if Ist's guess was right, more guards would be on their way to take the post.

It was now or never. Darting for the doorway, Ist quickly pressed the button to admit herself access, and sighed in relief as the door opened without any fuss. The fact that the leader of this planet did not even lock her own door behind her was testimony to the extreme arrogance of the Darksider. Ducking inside and closing the door once more, Ist quickly scanned the room.

Within were several personal affects, as well as a large formal desk, with a personal console waiting for commands. Thanking the Force for her streak of good fortune, Ist walked over and quickly started checking for the information she sought.

As she had thought, the High Prophet had complete access to any records or detailed information regarding the academy, and Ist was able to swiftly find the location that the unknown figure had last been spotted, some ways away to the north, and significantly farther from her ship than the academy had been. It would be some trek to get there, but hopefully worth the time if the inkling in the Force as to the identity of the individual was who Ist hoped it was.

Even the holorecording she had seen previous to coming to Dathomir was part of the information packet, and in slightly better detail, but still not enough for Ist to make out anything more about the individual, aside from the clear human-like frame and movements.

Not wanting to overstay her lack of welcome and risk being discovered, Ist made a hasty departure. Now that she had the coordinates, she could slip out and start heading in that direction. With luck, she could get out and on her way without anyone knowing the wiser that a Jedi had been in the midst of their academy.

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Gor-lak watched the faces of the Dathomir council more than listened to their words, even as they attempted to allay his fears that there was unwanted activity on their world.

Personally, he rather disapproved of the entirely female council that was ruling over the Assassin's academy and the dense jungle world that hid his personal laboratory. None of them knew that of course, with the exception of the high Prophet herself, which was why Gor-lak paid extra attention to her face above all others.

"We're well aware of the concern that you have for the Core of the Empire, Grand Inquisitor," Jamasila Basksyr said, the High Prophet seeming to be annoyed at his demand for their attention at this point, "but everything is calm here, and there is nothing for you to investigate…"

A small flicker in the side of the human female's face told another story, there was something off, something that the woman was hesitant to allow to become known widely in the Galaxy.

Gor-lak smirked, "I trust that you wish to believe such, but I can sense that there is something on your world. Indeed, the only sensible thing would be to come investigate myself, just to be sure…"

Oh the delightful expressions that the Dark Side woman was attempting to suppress. "No, no that won't be necessary, and for you to insinuate that we cannot…" she started, but paused as her wrist communicator started beeping, and she looked down.

Gor-lak took that had his moment to pounce, "If you cannot give a reason as to why my suspicions are incorrect, then I see no reason to change my mind. We are coming to Dathomir, and I will gladly see you when we arrive, High Prophet…" the ork said, concealing the smirk of delight at her frustration.

"I do not have time for this," Jamasila stated, rising from her seat, "this meeting is over, do as you wish High Inquisitor, you have the Emperor's favor for now, but I hope your hubris doesn't become your downfall. I have other matters I need to see to immediately." And with that she stormed out, leaving a surprised council of eleven women with Gor-lak's hologram, but he closed it a moment later, unwilling to allow any of the other Assassin women a moment to try and take up the complaints of their leader. Her actions were curious, and Gor-lak looked forward to investigating what exactly was so important as to pull her away so abruptly.


	16. C15: Found

**Oh, this is a great chapter, I'm excited for you all to read it! Thanks to those that have reviewed the previous chapters. I am currently playing a session of Stallaris, where I control the Neo-Sith Empire. every world, leader and system is renamed to match the controlled systems, and it is a blast. It truly pumped me up to be able to further the story and gave me a number of ideas, with assistance from some readers who have brilliant ideas that they bring me to use. Many thanks to those people as well! Enjoy! ~F**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

 **Found**

Hermione was downright surprised at the sheer number of recruits that flocked to their new base, courtesy of both Master Yoda and Commander Flitwick's expeditions. The half-goblin charm's master had already returned, along with many soldiers of the Republic remnant, which had immediately started training the myriads of people that had come into a reasonable fighting force.

At the same time, work had accelerated quite well in building up the compound for their base, along with relays all across the planet. Hermione herself had been more than unneeded for, and spent most of her time speaking with many of the groups of newer recruits, assuring them that they were fighting the good fight and that things would get better for the Galaxy when they overthrew the Sith.

Still, it was not her preferred place, but the other technicians were not yet finished, and so she had to wait before she could quickly shuttle them all back to Sanctuary and the safety of their wards and charms.

Even with that, she tried to tinker with what she had brought with her, working on droids and other weaponry, but it wasn't the same as the projects that she had waiting back in her private lab on the icy world of Hoth.

"Keeping yourself busy as always, Ms. Granger," Professor Flitwick said, appearing at her side during one of these sessions where she had to express her creative side and stap away from speaking with so many new faces.

"Yes, just some small things to keep the mind sharp and spark new ideas to take back to Santuary," she explained, smiling down at the shorter Mage-born.

"Well, I have to say that so long as we rely on those technological advances to stay a step ahead of the Empire, then your work is the most important thing that occurs in the background of our rebellion." Filius said, his large smile spreading across his face.

Hermione felt pride spread through her at the praise. But at the same time, she felt somewhat sad. She had started building magi-technology in order to better the Galaxy, not fight wars and kill hundreds of thousands. The evil that the Emperor had infused into her work, and the need of such devises terrible harmed the entire idea of her labors.

Setting aside the blaster she was modifying again, she said sadly, "I wish it wasn't as necessary as it is. I wanted to build more devises that could make planets habitable, save lives and create a much better Galaxy, and all I've made for decades is weapons of war, vessels to carry troops and equipment, and structures meant to keep our people safe."

She sighed, "There's no time for the things that I loved about these tasks, and if I slow down more will die."

Filius just patted her arm sympathetically, "w all sacrifice the things we love for the needs of others. The fact that you have more than most to give just attests to your good nature, and the strength of your gift to help those around you. And in doing so, I think you are still striving to make the Galaxy a better place."

Hermione smiled. The Ravenclaw Charm's Professor had a way about him that made anyone more comfortable, even with the worst of situations. One of the Magi-tech engineers approached at that moment, "We've used up all the resources and prefab materials that he brought with us from Sanctuary, Director. We are clear to return and gather more, at your leisure."

Hermione rose, "No, we'll depart swiftly, the more prepared this base is, the faster we can start launching countermeasures against the Empire."

"Not to mention you can bring more of your laboratory with you to have things to work on here," Filius added, smirking cheekily. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the truth and honesty in his words.

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Feyd tried to suppress his sigh of frustration when his apprentice contacted him from Korriban. Where the Mirialan had shown his spark of intelligence in going to the tomb world, Ekitc Batoi's weaknesses were apparent once he had arrived there.

Aside from wasting his time in delving into tombs in search of hidden signs of rebellion and mustering of forces against them; a clear waste of time, the powerful yet idiotic apprentice had nothing to report but his animosity for Zhar's apprentice, who no doubt was very much at home on the rocky desert world. Therefore it made sense that she would have ample opportunity to mock and torment him as he struggled.

"Clearly Zhar wouldn't hide anything in a tomb, where anyone could stumble upon it…" Feyd said after a time, feeling his frustration and anger rising at his fool of an apprentice, "search the facilities, and be more subtle, if the man's apprentice can find you so easily then there are others reporting your location back to them at all times."

"Yes, Master," Ekitc replied, seething from the reprimand that he had received, but Feyd did not care.

"Do not allow you hatred of that girl to cloud your judgment," Feyd admonished, "she is intentionally confronting you in order to prevent you from noticing anything amiss."

"I will do so," the apprentice replied, and Feyd cut the contact between them, rubbing his eyes in irritation the moment his apprentice was out of his sight. The small consolation in this was that Zhar and his apprentice would be focused on his foolish apprentice rather than Feyd himself, which bought the Supreme Prophet time to organize his forces.

It was clear that because Zhar refused to join his faction in preparation against the Emperor, either the man wished to seize power for himself, or perhaps Zhar desired even break away from the Empire altogether. Either option was unacceptable for Feyd, as they ran counter to his designs.

Korriban was the key; the tomb world acted as the crown jewel of the Sith Empires of old, and anyone seeking to rule had to have possession of the planet. As currently that being was Zhar Quelmok, Feyd had to remove the man from power.

And if that meant by force, then Feyd had the forces to make it so.

It was true, that the _Basilisk_ and its fleet were among the most venerated and experienced in the Imperial fleet, but it was still only one planetary defense fleet, whereas Feyd had command over many. While such action would be looked down upon by the Emperor, Feyd hardly cared anymore.

"Admiral, set your course for Korriban…" the Supreme Prophet commanded, activating his comlink to one of these fleets after another. "High Prophet Zhar has yet to see the light of the way the Empire is turning, and it is past time that we change his mind… for good…"

"Very good, my Lord," was the only acceptable reply, and the Admirals knew it.

The move completed and the pieces on their way to their intended destination, Feyd looked out onto the wide expanse of the central city of Dromund Kaas, "and now," he said to no one in particular, "the move is yours, Zhar… hope you can keep up with my forces…" he said, chuckling to himself.

The depths that he would go to unify the Empire under his rule, he hadn't conceived of yet, but if he was to pit himself against the Emperor, any traitorous elements would be removed. Zhar's death and the subjugation of Korriban would send a clear message to the rest of the Dark Council that Supreme Prophet Feyd would indeed destroy any who opposed him, and once the might of the Empire was his, he could challenge Coruscant directly.

Veneficus may be individually powerful, but even he couldn't escape the entirety of the Empire if it suddenly turned against him.

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Zhar had found it.

It had taken several hours of hasty searching, but finally a tome in the back of a corner shelf had something of an explanation. The writing had spoken of an ancient Sith Lord, whose name had been obscured by time and wear on the parchment, but it stated that this Dark Lord had progressed farther than any before him on the path of the Sith imperative, crushing the Republic, along with discovering the secret of _eternal life_.

"This is it…" Zhar breathed, burning the words into his mind. The secret that the Sith sought for the longest time, the answer to all the riddles of the Force. Veneficus was amassing all the collective knowledge of the Jedi and the Sith in order to achieve the end goal of all things. He wanted to live forever.

But the follow-up question was even more disturbing than the original. How could it be that the Emperor had maintained his apparent youth for nearly three decades, and yet not possess immortality? There must have been some deficiency to whatever method he was using for the duration of the war and beyond up to this point.

Wasn't there something that Euka had commented on when she met the Emperor some time ago, about the man's eyes and a seeming lapse of awareness to his surroundings? Yes, he recalled, thinking back to that time when she returned. Veneficus had had the eyes of an old man, hollow and sunken despite the youthfulness of his face. His immortality was incomplete, and from the description, the intense power of the Dark Side was still eroding the Emperor's life force. It might even be possible that, if he never found a new source of eternal life, he might die.

Now he just had to find Euka, and seek out some of the more hidden vaults that the Emperor had secluded, and perhaps they might learn a bit more from those supposedly unknown research stations that the Dark Council was only vaguely aware of.

"High Prophet, there is an approaching fleet coming in from Hyperspace," a voice said over his personal communicator, "They are flying Imperial Codes, but something feels off, there are too many ships and there is no scheduled visits anytime soon.

Thinking quickly, Zhar could only think of one thing to explain it. Feyd had grown tired of his apprentice's bumbling and sent a fleet to take command of Korriban himself, possibly intending to kill Zhar and Euka in the process, "prep the _Basilisk_ for my and Euka's arrival, we have a traitor in our midst, and the fleet is coming to attack us, prepare to repel the invaders, I want everyone on high alert." Zhar commanded, before pressing the small button that would signal Euka to return to him and give her his location.

Even as he made his way to the nearest landing bay, where a shuttle would be present to take him up to _Basilisk_ , Euka arrived on a personal speederbike, pulling to a swift halt near him, "What is it my Master?" she asked, understanding that he would not have signaled her in such a manner if it wasn't serious.

"I've discovered one answer to the mystery of our Emperor, and Feyd is sending a fleet to kill us, I suspect." Zhar explained quickly, "We need to get onto the _Basilisk_ and repel their attack, while still being prepared to flee if it becomes needful."

"You suspect more than one fleet is coming?" Euka said, dismounting the speeder and boarding the shuttle behind Zhar.

"I would do it in Feyd's position…" Zhar said bitterly.

The pilot asked no questions as they quickly flew up to orbiting fleet. Zhar however was on edge, the notion that Supreme Prophet Feyd was betraying them struck too near to the true fear that he had, in which the Emperor decided that they were no longer of use to him and decided to eliminate them.

Quickly emerging onto the bridge, Zhar spotted the oncoming fleet as it emerged from Hyperspace, and the High Prophet was not surprised to find that indeed it was more than a traditional planetary fleet ought to be. They were well outnumbered three ships to one, but like hell he was simply running without at least bloodying the noses of these enemy admirals.

"Launch fighters, I want shields double front at maximum, charge the prismatic barrier and prepare the kinetic cannons." He ordered. After the war, Zhar had intentionally taken as much of the remaining Magi-tech weaponry as he could for study, and in secret had the _Basilisk_ and its fleet upgraded through careful application of the technology.

Outside of the Royal Fleet of the Emperor himself, Zhar was fairly certain that he had the most advanced ships in the Empire, combining the very best of Republic and Imperial weaponry and shielding.

As the first cruiser started toward them, its own fighters launching to counter the standard Imperial tactic of combat, Zhar nodded once, signaling the weapons officer to send the command for the kinetic cannons to fire.

Massive canisters filled with explosives rocketed out into space, propelled with micro gravitational batteries and accelerated with small thrusters toward the lead ship. If Zhar was correct, the leader of this battlegroup would not be aboard, as most Imperial Navy commanders tended to lead from the rear, but it would serve as a powerful reminder that he was one of the most respected High Prophets on the Council.

They had forgotten so quickly after the war, he surmised, even as the point defense cannons of the ship started to shoot at the large, slowly moving objects, rupturing them well within the radius to hit the ship. The shockwaves from the explosives rocked the ship, clearly ripping through shielding and the hull on several levels.

"Counter fire, now!" Zhar commanded, and the empowered laser fire pelted the now cracked ship, striking with well aimed precision at the opened areas, and ripped massive chunks of the hull from the vessel.

"Enemy barrage of missiles incoming!" an officer yelled.

"Cease fire, activate prismatic barrier!" Zhar ordered, watching the haze of upgraded shielding raise between his ship and the enemy force, effortlessly repelling the detonations of multiple missiles and torpedoes that had come in response to their surprise attack.

"Fire missiles broadside, have them home in on the enemy signals, and prepare forward lances," Zhar continued, guiding his command fleet through their new strategy, which he had a feeling would throw off even the most hardened of Imperial commanders.

Even as the enemy attacks slowed to a manageable level, Zhar ordered the barrier dropped and recharged, even as they swung back into the offense, the massive quartet of forward lances tearing through the next ship to engage them directly.

"Thrusters at maximum, I want us to plow through them to the jump point." Zhar ordered, suprising even his apprentice.

"But… we're winning," she said, pointing out the seemingly obvious fact that they were holding out against their enemies for dominion over orbit of the system.

"For now, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is merely the first wave of ships that Feyd had planned for us." Zhar replied, cautiously eyeing the ships arrayed against them. It was clear from their maneuvering that they were trying to block the _Basilisk_ between their numbers and the planet, in order to prevent any escape.

That could only mean that another, more powerful, battle group was on its way, ready to punch through even the powerful stolen technology that Zhar had taken, and he was not about to allow that. Smashing through their line before it was established and escaping was the only option left for them, aside from dying here and now.

Zhar was not about to let that happen, not when he had only just scratched the surface of the mystery that was the Emperor. The _Basilisk_ drove forward into the net of enemy ships, weapons blazing in all directions as they advanced.

"I wonder if they'll remember this strategy…" Zhar said with a smirk, even as the viewports of one of the enemy ships came closer and closer to their own, "Raise Prismatic Barrier, brace for impact, and push through them."

The energy wall sprung to life once more, even as they drew within impact range of the enemy cruiser, and the radiating energy collided heavily with the vessel opposing them. The entire _Basilisk_ shuddered from the new resistance, but the engines were at maximum, and started to push them, as well as the enemy ship, through the formation and into open space beyond.

"Thrusters full starboard, broadside this ship in our way and deflectors triple portside." Zhar commanded, watching as they sharply start to pivot in place, all heavy cannons lining up with the ship they had forced out of formation, even as their escort frigates and other smaller vessels escaped through the hole that the _Basilisk_ had punched through.

"Fire," went out the command, and the entire starboard side of the ship illuminated with a deadly close range barrage, hammering the shields of the single ship and wrecking havoc on the hull.

"Send out coordinates for emergence contingency one to all vessels, and have then rendezvous with us there," Zhar ordered, and the smaller ships that made up their escort started, one by one, to jettison off into Lightspeed, fleeing in all directions from the battle.

"Where will we go?" Euka asked, even as their ship started to pull away from the now lifeless corpse of a capital ship that they had annihilated.

"I still have allies on the Council," Zhar stated blandly, "and although I am loath to admit it, we need allies right now. Khar Delba will provide that for the time being, as I highly doubt that Feyd would have the ability to shake _her_ from her devotion to the Emperor…"

Euka widened her eyes as she understood whom Zhar was referring to. It had been a long time since Zhar dealt with Ocraadi Nuhok in a personal setting, outside of Council meetings, but he was well aware that the Togruta was as insane as ever, contently wrapped in her power on the duel worlds that were once Naga Sadow's primary bases of operation. Idly, he wondered how she had endured the recent attacks of… unknown and unremarkable assailants some months back.

It was odd, Zhar could remember that whoever they were wanted to destroy the lineage and memory of Naga Sadow, but for the life of him he could not remember who the enemy they had fought had been.

"You may win Korriban for a day, Feyd," Zhar said as he watched the planet and the ships around them disappear into the blurred lines of Hyperspace, "but I will return for what is mine, and you had best hope that the Ocraadi does not view this as an act against the interests of the Emperor, as I hear her warriors and beasts are quite powerful now."

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Ist had wasted no time in traveling to the coordinates she had found, even daring to take an Imperial speederbike, although she had left it behind for the last half dozen miles, just in case they had locators on them.

However, once she arrived at the location, she started to wonder if the unknown figure would even still be around these parts of the dense, thorn-covered jungle. The planet was large enough, and the being had hidden this long on an Imperial world, just how did Ist hoped to locate whoever it was on her own?

Realizing that she had little choice but open herself fully to the Force and allow it to guide her, despite the risks, the Bothan Jedi Knight sighed, seated herself on the rocky ground and began the process of unweaving her shroud in the Force. It was not the swiftest of things to do, as it had to be rather impenetrable to prevent outside sources from discovering her, but Ist was careful, taking all the time she needed until at last, she breathed far easier as the Force and the peace of the Light swirled around her freely once more.

It may act as a beacon for those who were looking in order to find her, but Ist was now prepared for that outcome, if it happened. Reaching out with the Force, she struggled to push past the oppressive clouds of the Dark Side that wafted over the planet, seeking out even a scrap of the Light, which would indicate a better location for the one she sought.

It was difficult, as the sheer number of Darksiders on the planet made her hesitant to commit to delving through every aura on the planet. There was being discovered, and then there was proclaiming her presence to everyone on the planet.

Even about when Ist was ready to give up, something appeared, twinkling from a location nearby, very faint, like a glimmer of hope in a sea of despair. But Ist seized hold of that tiny spark, allowing it to lead her through the forest of brambles and thorns, eventually revealing a cave in the side of a nearby ridge.

"Why is it always a cave," Ist said to herself in tried annoyance, but still she stepped into the darkness of the cave, allowing a small glow rod to light her way. Who knew if she was being observed even now, although Ist was more than certain that there wasn't any Force users nearby, aside from the one she was seeking, but one could never be too careful. Revealing her position by the color of her blade would be the ultimate foolishness this soon.

The cave was narrow at first, only expanding out after a good way in, before it simply halted. Puzzled, Ist checked the entire cave again, but sure enough, she couldn't find any sort of passage that led further in.

"Odd, I could have sworn that I sensed someone here…" she said, moments before a shrill cry from the Force had her whirling, saber slapping into her hand. Yellow flashed to life even as a violet blade clashed heavily against it, pushing Ist back onto the heel of her rear foot.

But the figure did not press the attack, and the eyes beneath the deep hood were fixed on the coloration of her weapon. Angling the light just right, Ist gasped.

"Master Lovegood?" she breathed, hardly willing to believe what her eyes and the Force were telling her. The famous Jedi Master, and her own Master's closest friend, was alive.

"How did you survive the war?" Ist asked softly, even as Master Lovegood withdrew, keeping her saber active but passively at her side, seemingly in shock that another Jedi lived.

"Who are you?" the woman said, clearly straining her mind to place Ist's face.

"I am Ist Nanraah, Jedi Knight," the Bothan said softly, trying to ease Master Lovegood's fears, "I was apprenticed to your old friend, Master…"

"Yoda…" Luna Lovegood said, seeming to remember that name at the least. "It's been so long… how did you survive the war? The last thing I've heard is that the Republic fell and the Jedi are no more…"

"It is not the case!" Ist replied, her excitement growing as the legendary Jedi Master slowly relaxed and returned to her senses. "We have survived, although we were heavily devastated by the Emperor's attack."

"Survived… and Yoda?" Luna asked, looking hopeful.

"Alive, last I heard," Ist affirmed.

Relief surged through the Force around them, and Ist could feel how immeasurably strong Luna had become. There couldn't be any reason other than surviving direct combat with the Emperor that strengthened someone in the Force to this degree, and even Ist admitted to herself that she probably couldn't understand the half of what had happened, but she was eager to know more. "What happened, how did you come to this place, and how are you surviving here, Master?" she asked.

"It's been so long, I can hardly remember myself…" Luna said, steadying herself against the nearby cave wall, "I remember an explosion, and falling, then a lot of nothing before I wound up on this world. I couldn't use the Force without drawing the assassins to me, so I had to revive and improve old skills…"

"The Wild Force," Ist said, nodding. She knew that Luna Lovegood had been a mage-born, and her ability in those skills, while incomplete due to the needs of the Republic, had been effective.

"A few wards and charms, and very few could find me in these caves," Luna continued, pulling out a very thin, thorny wand and waving it at the cave around them. The illusions disappeared, and Ist stood in amazement as the Force surged through the network of tunnels and cambers that lay behind them. The Wild Force had functioned like an impenetrable wall, preventing even her ability to sense the falsehoods all around her.

"Come, it's not safe to stay around in the open for too long," Luna said, quickly walking to one of the passages, and Ist followed. The moment they had passed the threshold the illusion sprang back into place, and Luna was aghast when she felt the fleeting sensation of being buried, before she calmed down, the Force flexing back into place as the Wild Force energy died away.

"We can sense out, but none can sense in. Only the shock of your appearance caused me to slip and reveal myself." The Jedi Master walked farther into the secret tunnels of the ridge, before arriving at a rather rudimentary chamber, with some of the necessities of life, along with a pile of scrap and other things that Ist suspected that Master Lovegood had collected from the many hunters that had sought to kill her.

"The Assassins would have sensed me when I revealed myself," Luna explained as she took a seat on a flat rock in the middle of the room. "We'll wait until they give up again, then I can send you on your way back where you came from…"

"But the Rebellion needs you…" Ist said, "I came all this way, just hoping that I might find someone, another Jedi that survived the war, and bring you back to our hidden base."

"I can't…" Luna said sorrowfully.

Ist could not believe her ears. "What do you mean? Of course you can. It's just like you said, it's too dangerous here."

But the Master Jedi shook her head sadly, "It's too painful, I cannot bear seeing what has happened… what I allowed to happen…"

Ist felt the yearning and pain within the Force. She knew some of the history of the war, and that Luna had gone to face the Emperor one on one, but after that there was nothing that anyone knew regarding her.

"What happened?" she asked, tenderly taking the hand of the clearly emotionally wounded Jedi.

Luna looked as though she was about to refuse, when suddenly her head snapped up, eyes whirling as danger sounded through the Force. There was a tremendous quake of the ground and the illusion covering their hiding place shattered.

"Yes, dear Master Lovegood," a sarcastic female voice said snidely, "tell the dear Jedi Knight what happened aboard the Emperor's flagship so long ago… how your precious Padawan died in your arms, by your own hand…"

Ist whirled, saber raised, even as the High Prophet arrived at the head of a large group of troops and Dark Adepts. "I sensed you when you entered my office, child," she said to Ist, "You really need to be more careful…"

A fleet of red sabers illuminated the cavern, "Take them!" the High Prophet signaled, "We shall present them to Lord Gor-lak when he arrives, and gain the favor of the Emperor!"

Ist was daunted, there were simply so many, but Luna's radiance started to grow. The majesty of the Light Side of the Force seemed to shine from her, and her violet blade almost disappeared in the blinding white light that emitted from her.

Still, Ist wasn't sure if that massive amount of power could stand against so many at once, even as the horde of imperials charged at them

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Diábolis was impressed.

The cult of assassins indeed had much in the means of information for him to gather, and while he would be validating everything that they had told him, he was suitably pleased enough to allow them to keep their lives. That was, of course, so long as they continued to serve him in defeating Veneficus and taking command of the Galaxy.

The map also held some very specific data regarding a world on the very fringe of Wild Space. He was more than certain that the Emperor had never seen nor heard of it before. It was a very simple task for Diábolis to download the entire location to his personal datapad, and for good measure destroy the map so that no others could find it. The Mecrosa Order did not try to stop him.

They had quickly learned to fear his power, and as he was now their leader, he could do as he pleased with regards to what they had been previous guarding. Diábolis had sent them away, keeping only a frequency wherewith to contact them when the Sith Lord had need of their skills.

Quickly departing the ruins with his prize, Diábolis took the waiting speeder back to the spaceport, were he hoped to swiftly regroup with his fleet and continue their charade of an investigation for the rebels.

Bypassing the port authorities without incident, the Sith Lord retraced his steps to the hangar he had landed in. The same mechanic was present, dozing lazily in a corner of the corridor outside the hangar, and Diábolis sneered momentarily before bypassing the fool altogether. He had more important things to do that harass an incompetent worker.

However, when he entered the hangar that contained his ship, it was concerning that all the lights were extinguished, and the air was eerily silent. Sensing the fleeting notion of danger, Diábolis unclasped his saber, and dropped into a ready position, waiting and watching his surroundings.

He sensed the attack moments before it happened. Snapping his head to the side, he dodged around a sudden blaster bolt that sprung from the darker shadows of the hangar. Both blades of his twinsaber flared to life, catching and reflecting the trio of bolts that followed.

Leaping back, Diábolis heard the snap hiss of more lightsabers, and he understood. He had so carelessly overlooked the man who asked him too many questions, when in fact that one had been an informant of the Emperor, and had led assassins from his Master to him.

Two more assassins sprang up at him from behind, trying to rain down blows from their sabers, but the Sith Apprentice ducked out of the way, before catching and slamming their weapons into each other.

Planting a booted foot in the back of one of the saber wielding assailants, Diábolis spun sharply to avoid the stabbing blade of the other. Leaping into the air, he corkscrewed to avoid another barrage of blaster bolts, and extended a hand toward the source of the shots. Blue-white bolts of lightning flew from his fingertips, and a howl of agony answered.

Landing gently, the Devaronian spun, deflecting the two saber wielders as they tried to avenge their harmed companion, but the Sith Lord was growing tired of this pointless game. Throwing both arms out, a wave of telekinetic energy washed over the room, throwing everything backward, and toppling the two shrouded figures.

Diábolis saw his moment, and pounced, stabbing down through the midsection of the leftmost figure, relishing the scream of death. The being's companion had scarcely enough time to rise to his feet before the Sith Lord was upon the second figure. Strikes and kicks rained liberally upon the other form, and the unknown being stood no chance to deflecting or blocking them all.

Finally, a low swing caught the leg of his adversary, and once more the shrouded figure fell to the ground, quickly followed by a series of deep and swift strikes to the torso, ending the life of his second opponent.

Almost knowing that their allies had fallen, the final assassin vacated the silence, and punctuated the air with a volley of blaster shots, clearly intend on emptying the energy cell as quickly as possible rather than actually try to hit Diábolis.

Slowly spinning his saber in wide arcs, the Sith Lord advanced, catching and deflecting each bolt that actually threatened his life, methodically marching toward the location of the shots' origination, before he finally leapt forward, swiping aside the last two blaster bolts with one swing, and spun midair, landing with his rear blade piercing the figures neck.

There wasn't a sound from the now lifeless body as it slumped to the ground. Wondering if there would be more assassins in wait to rush in when they discovered he was still alive, Diábolis quickly searched the three assailants, finding several comlinks and a beacon locator, which clearly was responding to a small tracking device on his ship. This affirmed to the Sith Lord that there were more, and that they had prepared for the possibility of failure.

Just as he crushed the tiny device that was attached to his shuttle, the door to the corridor slid open, and the mechanic eased his way inside, "Is it done?" he called to the room at large, foolishly unaware that his friends lay all around him, dead.

Diábolis took great pleasure in sneaking around behind the little worm, and even as the mechanic activated the lights and took in the horror of the three assassins and their dead bodies, impaling the man with his saber from behind.

"You do not trifle with a Sith Lord, you tiny worm…" Diábolis hissed in the man's ear, "…unless you truly do not value your life."

The being turned to look at him, horror and pain in his face as the life leaked from him. Diábolis shut off his weapon, allowing the mechanic to fall to the ground and die there, without anyone to aid him, even as the Sith Apprentice stalked to his ship, and took off from the hangar.

Quickly setting the coordinates for where his fleet ought to be at this point, Diábolis had about an hour to ponder what had occurred, and what he was to do about it. There was no possible way the tracker got onto his ship before he left his fleet, which meant that there indeed was a spy for the Emperor aboard his own vessel, meaning that the Emperor knew he came to this world, but not what he had found there. Once Diábolis dealt with the betrayal of his underling, he could turn his attention to the long forgotten world, and the possible knowledge and treasure that lay there, waiting for someone to take it for themselves.

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Luna Lovegood was tired, and torn in her heart from all the constant fighting. Even though the Light sang within her, calling her to battle against the forces of the Dark Side, she did not have it in her heart to venture beyond this world. The blaster bolts were halted in midair before they even reached the two Jedi, and the Force carried her to speeds far beyond what the Dark Adepts could ever hope to keep up with.

They fell in droves before her and Ist, the Padawan of her dear friend, who yet lived. Even knowing that small detail that the war truly had not taken everything from her lifted her spirits, but the darkness in her heart at the death of Leon was still too near. She could not challenge the Emperor again, or else she feared that he would destroy her utterly. Or worse, Harry could turn her to the Dark Side, and she would fall.

Almost in a daze, she dashed forward, cutting through row after row of attackers, working her way to their leader, the High Prophet Jamasila Basksyr, who apprentice had been tasked with finding and killing Luna long ago.

The young man had failed: his own anger and rage being his downfall more than Luna's blade. She had not struck the killing blow then, but actually tried to save the young human, who somewhat resembled Leon, but the ground on the cliff that they fought upon had crumbled, sending the young man screaming to his death.

But naturally, as was wont of the Dark Side practitioners, Luna was blamed for not simply laying down and letting the boy kill her, so Jamasila had sent assassin after assassin after her, no doubt promising rewards and glory upon whomever defeated her.

"Enough, I will kill you myself!" the High Prophet roared, her own blade pointing directly at Luna's throat in the opening position of Makashi. With a grunt of exertion, the female human lunged; trying to stab past Luna's defenses, but long patience and some training had converted the Jedi's mastery of Soresu to a whole new level of understanding.

The probing tip of the red blade never got close to Luna, who's own violet blade whirled and spun in shimmering arcs of color, catching and directing blaster bolts at the High Prophet, distracting her from her goal and buying more time for Ist to back away.

But the Bothan would not quit and run, but stood valiantly by Luna's side, adding her own power in the Light to Luna's. She seemed to say without words that they would fight and die together, or else come off victor in this fight.

For that, Luna was grateful, and yet her sorrow persisted, as she knew that she could not muster the courage to do what was asked of her, what in the end everyone wanted of her. They all would want her to finish the job she had started, and eliminate the Emperor from the Galaxy once and for all. And while in her heart Luna knew that it was her responsibility, she could not move past the horrors of the war and what had become of her Padawan in order to do what was right.


	17. C16: Secrets of Dathomir

**Happy New Year! Many thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter, I certainly hoped that the somewhat surprise return of a certain Jedi Master was well received. Here's to what is yet to come in 2019, and for the oncoming chapter! Enjoy! ~F**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

 **Secrets of Dathomir**

Ist ducked as High Prophet stabbed at her. The Bothan easily recognized her own style of Makashi being wielded against her, and her own yellow saber snapped up in a defensive parry, before retracting and stabbing forward herself. She was trying to drive the powerful Dark Side user away from them, and give Luna more time to finish off the others that had advanced, trying to flank the pair of Jedi.

Despite the clear and present danger, Ist felt none of it, as being with Luna literally felt like being close to the heart of the Force, peace being radiated outward from the Mageborn Jedi Master. And so she pressed onward, spinning, stabbing and slashing as she surged forward.

"You cannot stop me, child, I rule this world, and the Master will know if I am defeated!" the High Prophet cried, even as her own blade deflects and blocked the probing tip of Ist's yellow saber.

Ist did not reply, focusing all her skill toward her goal. Honestly she wasn't even sure if she wanted to kill this being, even though the High Prophet represented a clear and present threat to their survival. Getting away with Luna back to her ship was enough for Ist.

With a cry, the last of the other fighters fell to Luna's violet blade, and the Jedi Master rushed into the duel between Ist and the High Prophet, the full power of Soresu forming a wall of security between the red saber and anyone else.

Luna's robes snapped about her frame as she spun, keeping her saber tight to her body and wasting as little energy as possible in her defense, forcing the Darksider to exert much in her attacks.

Advancing as she blocked, Luna also sought to limit the space that the pair had to duel in, which greatly hindered the strengths of Makashi.

Ist knew that for the ideal situation, Makashi needed space between the opponents to make full use of the entire length of the practitioners weapon, rather than the middle of the blade that Soresu favored.

Therefore, once they backed the Darksider into a corner, the High Prophet's weapon was next to useless in her hands. And thus they were prepared for the expected blast of telekinetic energy as the woman tried to create space between them.

The spinning violet blade struck out, and the offending hand trying to channel the force went flying, separated from the rest of its body.

The High Prophet screamed, clutching the cauterized stump to her body, even as she started to grow more enraged and savage with her blade work. And now that her slashes were wide and sloppy, Luna's form was in its element.

Slapping the crimson blade around as it came in for attack after attack, Luna suddenly spun, ducking low to avoid a hefty cut across where would have been her midsection, before rising with a swift uppercut, slashing through the Darksider's chest and sending her crumpling to the floor.

There was a loud rush of air as something snapped in the Force, sending ripples across the surface of the planet. "That will be alerting every Darksider on the planet of what has transpired. You need to get back to your ship and leave as soon as possible," Luna said, starting for the cave entrance.

"I'm not leaving without you," Ist replied stubbornly. She had come this far, and she wasn't going back without the Jedi Master at her side.

"I have other business to investigate here, I cannot go with you." Luna countered, insistently.

"Then I will help you, and then we'll escape together." Ist offered.

Luna sighed, "I fear what we may find, but I can see that you are indeed your master's Padawan, follow me closely."

Together they turned and dashed away into the undergrowth, heading further into the mountains and away from the settlements on the planet.

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Gor-lak felt something as they entered orbit over Dathomir. He was unaccustomed to sensing the power of the Force, but through the mask he wore and the other objects that granted him some semblance of the power; he felt a strong ripple of energy rushing across the surface of the planet.

"Something has happened," he said aloud to the bridge, "Investigate, I want communications opened with the facility, find me High Prophet Basksyr."

But even as they waited in muted silence for a time, the communications officer growing more and more frustrated, there was no response from the leader of the planet's office.

Gor-lak started to grow more concerned. If she was gone, she might have decided that defending his little secret was no longer worth her time and went to destroy it, or else report it to the Emperor. Realistically, Gor-lak felt that Veneficus would have other things more pressing to worry about than the ork's little experiments, but it was a risk he was not willing to fully take. "Prepare my shuttle; we are going down to the planet, keep trying to get ahold of someone in authority there in my absence. Find out what is wrong."

"Yes, my Lord!" the offices replied, even as Gor-lak turned and left the bridge.

He would let the fools take care of the pleasantries. The only objective that Gor-lak cared about now was securing his facility, and making sure that his pet project was not in the process of being destroyed. Only then would he deal with the flippant High Prophet. None were above his authority, aside from the Emperor himself.

And yet, even as his shuttle took off from the hangar and started toward the planet, following the coordinates to his precise direction, Gor-lak felt that something was decidedly wrong even with his assumption of betrayal.

Just to be certain that nothing would go amiss, he summoned an additional two transports filled with his elite troopers. One could never be too careful when returning to his original form was involved.

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Veneficus, as he was meditating on his throne in the depths of the Imperial Palace, more than felt the surge of Light Side energy from within the core of his Empire. Head snapping up, and eyes opening wide, he snarled at the all too familiar presence in the Force returning full force to him, and a rage like he had never before felt boiled over.

Leaping to his feet, he howled at the Galaxy for tormenting him with _her_ continued existence. "LOVEGOOD!" he roared, the entire room shaking at the resulting blast of the Dark Side.

Seething, he flew from the room, already summoning his pilot to prepare his shuttle for the first time in a while. The Emperor was departing the place of his power. And this time, he would have victory over her at last.

"She will die…" he muttered, the iron-like grasp over his own sanity starting to momentarily slip as he drummed his fingers on any nearby surface as he moved. "She will die… she will die… she will die… die… die!"

Only when he reached the shuttle itself did he regain control of himself. He must not allow his rage to control him this time. Clearly the woman's continued survival was in regard to his inability to control himself and simply eliminate her, more than any skill that she might possess. It he was collected and ready for her this time, then he at last could ensure that Lovegood, and the last real threat to him was gone.

Calmly entering the shuttle, he addressed the pilot, "Take me to Dathomir, do not forewarn anyone, and we will land where I tell you, not at the port."

"Yes, your majesty," the pilot replied instantly, executing the liftoff commands and starting away from the palace.

Settling into the throne that was prepared for him, Veneficus closed his eyes, focusing on locating the exact place that Lovegood was hiding on the planet, while withholding the fact that he was at long last aware of where she was hiding.

This time, he would have his revenge, and it would be exceptionally sweet.

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By the time that Supreme Prophet Feyd arrived on Korriban, he knew that the world was completely under his control. Most of the people who worked and taught and learned on the desert tomb-world wouldn't be aware of the shift of authority, and the few that would be had already been subtly replaced with more favorable individuals.

He was greatly displeased however, that Zhar and his apprentice had escaped, and while it was an event that he had been prepared for, the hope had been that they would perish during the initial attack. Still, he was now preparing his report to the Emperor that would solidify his rule over the planet, and officially remove Zhar from any sort of influence over the monarch of the Galaxy.

That was, until he was met by a high ranking imperial guard, apologizing to him in regard to the Emperor's abrupt disappearance from the Palace, and that no one knew where he had gone to forward any message.

"Well, inform me the moment he returns, as this is indeed and urgent message regarding the state of the empire," Feyd demanded, shutting off the communication abruptly.

His plan had been to implicate the defection of Zhar and his apprentice, pointing them out as traitors to the Empire willing to serve their needs over even the Emperor's. He would then set himself up as governor over Korriban, and master of the academy there, as well as the one on Dromund Kaas.

In the meantime, he would profess to the Emperor to hunt down the traitors, and use the resources from both worlds to eliminate Zhar once and for all, finally securing himself a steady base of operations from which to assume command of the Empire and overthrow Veneficus altogether.

It was perfect, and played into the thoughts and insanity of the Emperor, so that the man would never suspect Feyd until it was too late. But the crucial step of implicating Zhar was paramount for Feyd to proceed. If someone else got to the Emperor before he was able to convince him, all his plans might be ruined.

"I want assassins sent out to find Zhar and his apprentice," he informed one of his close advisors, "They must not get word back to the Emperor of our plot."

"Yes, my Lord," the man replied, turning and hurrying away to fulfill the Supreme Prophet's commands.

Only when the sycophant left and Feyd was alone once more did he give any level of thought to the location of the Emperor. Turning to the large window that overlooked the Valley of the Dark Lords and its surrounding tombs, the Supreme Prophet put a fist on the Transparisteel in frustration.

"Of all the times for the Emperor to just up and disappear…" he seethed, using a titanic amount of effort to reign in his anger, "whatever it was had better have been important, or else…"

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Luna suppressed a shudder as something massive and power passed briefly over the planet. "He has sensed us…" she said, stopping in the midst of her trek with the young Bothan Knight.

"He? He who?" the Younger Jedi asked, clearly having not felt the wisp of darkness that washed over the planet.

"The Darkness has sensed me, and is coming for me…" Luna said, before turning and dashing further along the trail. She had little time left to find what she had come here to find, and escape this place.

"Wait! Master!" the Bothan said, sprinting to try and keep up, but Luna was not in the mood to answer questions. The Emperor has sensed her, just as she had feared he inevitably would, and was coming to destroy all that she had worked for since the war.

Her exile to this world, while initially accidental, had been a small blessing in disguise. While snooping about, unable to use the Force to preserve herself as much as she'd like, Luna had discovered something important, and ominous.

The self styled Grand Inquisitor, who's name she had learned was Gor-lak the Cruel, was conducting experiments with the same magical energy that the Mage-Born wielded. If Luna could get into the secret lab and retrieve some items that she felt strongly would be present, she could fashion a way to tip the scales into their favor.

The Emperor thought he had eliminated all the texts and devices that the Mage-Born had brought with them from their world, but Luna was willing to bet that the man was wrong, and that this creature in the skin of a man had secreted something that even that monster wouldn't want used against him.

Dashing up the trail, Luna took hasty note of the carefully hidden beacons and antennas in this part of the mountains. She had charted much of the planet in her days here, hiding from the assassins that hunted her and she had never once seen such a remote location have such sophisticated equipment, and so well hidden from the casual looker.

She was certain that this was the location that she sought, and had explored it closely many times, scouting for some means of getting in without alerting the guards or triggering some sort of alarm.

Now however, with the Emperor himself coming for them and the High Prophet of the planet dead, there was no more time for subtlety.

Halting just around the last corner before the solid metal door to the underground compound, Luna waited for Ist to catch up, knowing that they would need to work together to get in efficiently and prevent any guards or automated defenses from stopping them.

Soon enough the Bothan reached her, skidding to a halt and trying to demand more answers. "There's no time, a great evil is on its way, and I need to find something in here, before we leave."

That stopped the younger Jedi, clearly satisfying one of the things that she had desired to convince Luna of. There was no choice in the matter now, with Veneficus on his way, she had to leave, or else she was certain that she would not stand up to him once more and escape alive.

"What's the plan?" Ist asked, but Luna was already moving, ducking around the corner and drawing her weapon, deflecting the turret's shots as they came active on sight of her. They were aware that someone might be coming this way, but Luna was not about to give up just because they were prepared for her.

Easily redirecting the shots of the turrets into each other, Luna moved on, the smoldering wrecks of the inferior contraptions lending the smell of burning metal to the air, even as she started to cut away at the control panel for the door. It was a heavy reinforced durasteel, and not something that they could easily cut through with brute force alone.

But once the front panel was off, Luna could see the mess of wires and parts that made up the lock for the door. "I certainly hope you know what you're doing…" Ist said, looking at the convoluted mess in confusion.

Luna said nothing, not wishing to agitate the younger woman as she stabbed indiscriminately with her saber at the wires, cutting through as many as she could reach, hoping that she hit the right number to force the door to open.

Naturally, that sounded an alarm, but it did cut the power to the door, and force it open a tiny crack. That was all that Luna needed. Stowing her saber, she reached out with the Force and put as much pressure at the crack in the doorway that she could, trying to pry them apart and slide the doors across their pathway.

Ist noticed and lent her aid swiftly, and together they were able to slowly pry one of the doors open enough to slip inside. The corridor beyond was dark, likely having lost power to its lights because of Luna's impromptu attempt at hacking, but nevertheless they proceeded onward, Luna's saber lighting their way.

Granted, she could sense the sheer darkness from within the vaulted chambers that there was something vile and unnatural waiting for them farther ahead. It was not going to be an easy thing, but if they were swift, they might escape before too much happened.

"Careful now," Luna said gently, even as they approached another door ahead of them. The sensors above it glowed as they approached, and Luna felt the warning in the Force moments before it slid open, revealing a squad of dark armored guards, blasters raised and spilling to fill the corridor.

Leaping backward, Luna fell into her defensive form, forming a barrier of her singing blade to deflect and knock away the bolts that sought their lives. Once there was a small stutter in the nonstop volley of shots, Ist darted forward, circling Luna and lashing out with her yellow blade, thrusting and snapping off tiny, precise flicks of the weapon. The troopers shouted in confusion as their weapons fell in pieces out of their hands. Luna struck them, throwing the armored beings backward with the Force and smashing them into the far walls.

Striding through, and seeing that the next room was lit, Luna looked around swiftly and suppressed a shudder.

Cages, tubes, all manner of equipment for the inflicting of pain and torment lined the walls, all singing with the agony that they had inflicted over the course of time, and the remains of creatures filled an entire wall of the chamber.

"What monster would do this?" Ist asked, running a hand over the nameplate of a transparisteel tube, labeled with a long string of digits.

"Just that…" Luna answered, "A monster, and one of the foulest things awoken by the Emperor…"

She turned on the spot slowly, trying to see if she could find what she sought, or another path they could take. Two different doors, at the back of the room, beckoned. Luna wasn't too eager to split up in this place. The danger was too great and their time was short.

"We'll go left," she decided, hitting the control for the door, revealing a winding staircase that went down.

"Strange, no lift, just stairs…" Ist commented.

"The thing that made this place wouldn't want it to be found. Too many powered things would just cause a greater draw on the generators," Luna explained, guiding their way into the darkness, "the more power they use, the more likely someone will notice."

"But what are they up to, whoever they are?" Ist asked, clearly sensing that Luna wasn't sharing everything she knew.

"Making something worse…" Luna said, grimacing at the sensation of the dark magic at work here. Surely Ist could sense it as well, but the Jedi was probably confused by the many charms and spells that were there, intent on confusing and bewildering any intruder.

Gor-lak had layered his spell work over this place well, which told Luna that she had picked the correct door. Drawing her wand, the proceeded onward, until an enchanted door was all that blocked them ahead.

"It's a solid wall…" Ist said, but even still the Bothan was blinking her eyes often as she looked directly at the enchantment.

"That's what he wants you to see." Luna replied, waving her wand and carefully peeling back the layers of spells, trying her best not to trigger any of the traps. This beast, Gor-lak, was a paranoid one to say the least, and it was likely that he had prepared all of this in order to prevent the Emperor from finding out.

From the small gasp of surprise from Ist, Luna knew that she had achieved in removing the enchantment hiding the door. It was old fashioned, wood with a metal handle. It reminded Luna strongly of the doors back at Hogwarts, which in other circumstances would have been interesting, but time was far too short for them to linger more than necessary.

"I fear the worst is yet ahead, stay on guard," Luna added, before slowly pushing the heavy door open with a creak of hinges.

The chamber was stone, completely sealed in on all sides apart from the door by which the two Jedi entered. Unwilling to believe that all defenses had been exhausted; Luna kept a firm hold on her weapons, even as she peered about. Braziers flared to life around the corners of the room, lighting what appeared to be a combination of a study and some sort of laboratory.

A massive table dominated the center of the room, filled with many potion implements, as well as spellbooks in stacks, and scattered parchment sheets in a hand that Luna could not read. The walls had more shelves of various dark and imposing objects, and the wide open space was splattered with enough residues to leave nothing to the imagination of what sort of experiments were going on here.

"Is it here, the thing you were looking for?" Ist asked, even as Luna started to examine the grotesque objects.

"I'm looking, try to see if there's some sort of hidden compartment, but don't actually touch anything, for any reason," Luna replied, holding the wand level and slowly waving it over the objects and parchment on the desk.

The Bothan started slowly around the room, and Luna could sense her reaching out with the Force to penetrate the walls, checking for hidden chambers on the other side. "So," she asked as she worked swiftly around half of the room, "What is it you're looking for exactly?"

"Well, that's a difficult question," Luna answered honestly, "I don't know what form it will take, or has been changed into, but I'll know it by the magical signature."

"Oh!" Ist said, and Luna turned, just as one of the many shelves that circled the room pulled away, revealing a hidden passage. It was small, only a tiny vault within the room, but there, glimmering in the center of the raised area hidden from view, was what she sought.

And that was not all, it was a regular treasure trove of things that she recognized, and Luna could not help but step forward and produce a large bag. "So many things here, I had no idea that the monster had stolen this much from the Emperor…" she breathed, uncaring as she started to snatch vials and baubles, placing each into the bag as quickly as she could. With the Emperor on his way, there was no possibility that allowed her to leave any of these for him to reclaim.

Finally, she lifted the tiny stone, about the size of her palm, which shone in a multitude of colors as it moved. "What is that?" Ist asked, clearly feeling the draw of power that came from it.

"A prize that the Emperor himself would wish to reclaim, if he understood its full value…" Luna said, "It is a Seer's Stone, able to gift the Mage-Born who has the skill with the ability to see glimpses of the future."

"Wherever did such a vile creature get one?" Ist asked.

"Yes, dear Jedi… do tell your little friend where did I manage to get one…" a new voice said. Luna gasped, unable to believe that neither of them sensed the approach.

Turning abruptly, they saw the shell of a man, but to Luna's far more trained eyes, she could see the monster lurking within, just waiting to unleash his power and attack them.

"Those all belong to me." Gor-lak said angrily, "I suggest you return them now, and perhaps your deaths will be swift and merciful…"

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Gor-lak had to admit he was surprised by what he had found in his personal laboratory. A pair of Jedi, so willingly trying to attract his attention and all but presenting themselves to his blade was a… welcome alternative to what he had been expecting, but nevertheless, the treasures that they were stealing was not acceptable. If he was to complete his experiment and free himself of the wretched body of a human he needed what the old Jedi had.

When they did not seem to respond to his demand, as he had expected, Gor-lak sighed. In a flash his emerald green balefire blade sprung into his hand, and the fiery tip was aimed at his opponent's heart. "I need those materials," he said softly, "and if you will not surrender them I cannot allow you leave here alive…"

"Just try you monster," the Master said, her pouch disappearing around her back as saber and a wand appeared in her hands.

Gor-lak was only just able to produce a magical shield to intercept the blast of Mage-born spells, but his ancient wards were already functional, recognizing a threat to their master and with a sharp snap of magic throughout the complex, his experiments were released. There would be no escape for the Jedi now, even if they manage to slip past him.

Lunging forward, Gor-lak wasn't about to let them get that far regardless. The flaming sword flashed and sparked as the Jedi's violet weapon made contact with it, showering the floor with the green flames. The little Bothan tried to flank him, but another enchanted blade flamed to life in the ork spirit's other hand, parrying her sharp stabs and snappish cuts with equal precision.

"You cannot defeat me, little Jedi…" Gor-lak sneered, kicking away the younger alien, refocusing both his blades onto Lovegood, "I have hunted and killed your kind for centuries. You have no chance!"

Flourishing sharply, he began an aggressive assault on Lovegood's defenses, alternating between heavy double strikes to her head and torso with light feints to her other limbs in order to throw the defensive master off balance.

Thrice more the little Bothan tried to intervene, but a quick defense and unexpected counterattack was enough to keep her off of the entrapped spirit for the time being.

Finally, he cornered Lovegood, the Emperor's prized prey, locking her saber between each of his weapons. Chanting softly, Gor-lak breathed out, allowing a cloud of poison fumes to escape his lips, lethal to any other who breathed them.

The backlash of their all-powerful Force was expected. Blades vanishing from his hands, in a split second Gor-lak conjured a protective shell of diamond hard magic around himself, even as he impacted the far wall, and shattered through it into his creature den, where specimens all similar in structure to his original form had been kept and experimented on.

Dispelling the protective magic and leaping back to his feet, a single blade flaring back to life in his hand, Gor-lak snapped his fingers. The stairwells leading out of either chamber filled with fire, even as the Bothan was about to mount the ones from his laboratory. She fell back, dodging the flare of fire but now unable to flee.

With his sorcery, Gor-lak made the call for his creatures, many of whom were immune to his magical fire, and laughed as they came howling and biting, more than eager to rend the flesh from the bones of the Jedi.

The pair was easily herded into the new room, lined with open cages of all types, and controls for the final chamber of this place, but Gor-lak was not desirous to have that expressly triggered just yet. Although, the deaths of two powerful enemies might supply him with enough blood to finally merge with his new body, ready and prepared at long last for his spirit to inhabit it, and rise more powerful than he had been before.

Smirking, he stalked closer to them, the emerald fire of his weapon reflecting off the walls. "And now, my dear Jedi," he said softly, "we end this little game."

He charged, just as his beasts leapt from the other side, forcing the Jedi apart, and separating them from each other in both rooms. The one who held his treasures before him, and her companion left in the other room with his beasts.

"You will die here, and your deaths will be the final requirement for my new form to rise at long last." Gor-lak said, stepping forward and raising his blade. The violet saber flashed in answer, and the battle began.

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Ist fell backward, even as the slashing claws of the hideous things tried to find her throat. She couldn't tell what these monsters used to be, but now they were abominations, beings ripped apart and reconstructed into something worse.

But they seemed to be in complete control from Gor-lak, as they obey his commands, and fought like demons to prevent Ist from assisting Master Lovegood in the other chamber. Their hides were also very strong, and they clawed and slapped away her blade as she tried to force them back, only light burns being left in the wake of her saber.

The trio of beasts tried again and again to corner her, and only through use of the Force was Ist able to successfully escape their pack mentality, staying just ahead of gnashing teeth and razor claws. Even her use of telekinesis on the creatures was somewhat resisted, and it was clear that the madman who created these things had every intention of using them to hunt Force users.

Of course, that did not stop her from affecting the objects in the room. Tomes, scrolls, all manner of things flew in every direction, causing distraction and confusion with the three creatures, and Ist tried to launch her own counter attack, stabbing and slashing at the beasts' faces.

The one she attacked howled and reared back, its clawed forearms trying to shield its face from her stinging yellow blade. That was the opening Ist sought. The massive desk swung round at her command with the Force, crashing heavily into the lead beast blocking her path, and knocking it flying.

She charged through to the other room, gasping at what she saw. The sorcerer Gor-lak was dueling fiercely with Luna, blades crashing against each other and other spells flying from hand or wand.

Ist was not knowledgeable in these matters, but she knew she had to help in whatsoever way she could. The other problem was still the beasts. Just because she had slipped past their net didn't mean that they ceased to be a threat. Even now they were started to recover from her storm of the Force, snapping and charging for the hole Ist had passed through.

She could not allow them to enter the room and assist their master any further. Thinking quickly, Ist spotted the cages lining this new room. If they had been used to imprison these creatures before, they had to be strong enough to resist their brute strength. Allowing the Force to flow through her, Ist reached out to the nearest cage. Straining with all her might, she pulled and twisted the massive box of metal, dragging it ever so slowly into position over the hole, blocking the way.

The lead beast slammed into the metal just before it was fully covering the hole, trying to throw its entire body against the blockage and dislodge it. "No!" Ist said, leaping forward and swinging with her saber with both hands. There was a howl of agony, and the beast withdrew, a digit of claw and chunks of its arm falling to the ground as it pulled away from the heavy saber strike.

Quickly, Ist moved the cage into position, knowing that it might hold them for a time from that direction, but the main door to the chamber was still open, and she felt that these things were smart enough to know to go around and corner them once more in the room.

But even as she started to cross the room, she had to dodge a blast of green lightning from Gor-lak. The hideous creature in the shell of a human grinned wickedly at her; the skin stretched far more than normal, and continued his duel with Luna, who seemed to be tiring quickly despite her form of combat. The magical side of the duel must be taking its toll, and Ist knew that she needed to act quickly and rush to the Jedi Master's aid.

The massive door slammed shut at her call through the Force, latching heavily and sealing them inside the room, and not a moment too soon before a heavy body slammed against the other side. Now that the beasts had been delayed for the time being, Ist focused completely on the duel, looking for an opening to lunge in and add her skill to Luna's.

As she was studying the flow of the combat, she noticed a pattern to the sorcerer's movements. As he and the Jedi Master fought, Gor-lak would not turn his back on a particular corner of the room, which possessed a series of controls on a console. Thinking that they might offer a way of escape, Ist knew what she had to do.

Charging forward, her saber raised and in a defensive position, she ducked the retaliatory swing from the flaming blade, and parried the swift spell that came after it, swinging around on her knees as she skidded across the floor and through the main part of the duel, reaching the far side of Gor-lak.

The beast retaliated, thinking that she simply was trying to flank him, and bolts of emerald lightning flared out at Ist while his blade was busy fending off Luna's. Ist sidestepped, catching the bolts on her blade and sending them ricocheting off toward the console, which blew from the sudden blast of power.

Gor-lak howled as he saw what had happened, abandoning his fight with Luna to seek revenge against Ist, "You have no idea what you've done!" he screamed, blade raised and swinging, only to be hastily blocked by Ist, her smaller frame suddenly locked in a struggle of physical strength with a much larger opponent.

"All my work, so many years of planning, and you've ruined it all! You will both die, and you will suffer every moment until your ends!" the beast screamed, his slashes growing wilder with every moment.

Even as her defenses weakened, Ist couldn't tear her eyes away from the platform rising from the center of the room. A massive slab, with a restrained, unconscious beast lay upon it, this was what the monster was planning, some sort of super weapon comprised of a creature to be used to hunt down the Jedi perhaps?

Finally, her strength started to give, and Gor-lak struck, knocking her weapon away. Even as he raised his weapon to strike her down however, the monstrous Inquisitor reared back in agony, a violet blade punching through his torso.

Ist acted swiftly, throwing all her might into the Force to throw the being from her, even as Luna withdrew her saber and dodged. Gor-lak flew backward, striking the massive slab and flipping over the top, landing heavily on the floor as his weapon vanished into nothing.

"Is he, dead?" Ist asked, slowly recovering her saber and reaching out with the Force.

"Nearly…" Luna replied, "But we've got to get out of here before more things arrive to stop us."

But as they turned toward the doorway to start figuring out how to bypass the beasts and escape, a noise sounded behind them. It started softly, but soon rose to be like a shrieking wail. They turned, and saw a ghastly fume pouring from the human body that they had just defeated, forming some sort of apparition of black smoke.

"You…" it wheezed, ethereal and otherworldly, "I will have my revenge, and soon all the power of the Galaxy will be mine!"

"Ist, run!" Luna said, thrusting the satchel of trinkets to her and throwing the door open with the Force.

There was no room for debate, as even when Ist started to protest, she felt the shudder of darkness rushing through the Force. The Emperor had arrived in the system.

"GO!" Luna said, nudging her roughly with the Force toward the door, even as the ghostly entity seeped into the body of beast on the slab, and it started to rouse itself from its strange slumber.

But Ist wasn't about to just up and leave Luna to her fate. Reaching back, she grasped the Jedi Master with the Force and pulled, dragging her along toward the door and out of the chamber. The door sealed itself, but Ist wasn't sure if it would hold the beast. "I'm not leaving without you!" she declared, and took off with Luna back they way they had come through the network of tunnels.

The creatures that served Gor-lak were nowhere in sight, but they had greater threats looming.


	18. C17: Inquisitorial Fall

**Chapter Seventeen**

 **Inquisitorial Fall**

Gor-lak never felt more alive. Finally free of the confining body of the human wretch and possessing something more fitting of his power and ancestry. The metal bonds holding the body to the table broke under the tiniest flexing of his muscles. Leaping to the powerful feet of the beast he had created, Gor-lak felt like his old self once more.

Granted, it took several moments to orient himself to being returned to a proper height and reach, but soon enough he was tearing through the metal door and pursuing the Jedi that had forced him to take on this form sooner than he had desired. If he did not complete the ritual correctly, with the deaths of powerful individuals, the body would waste away within a day and he would be all but destroyed.

Powerful claws dug into the stone, pulling himself along as he ran upon all fours, testing the full range of his power even as the voice uttered words of his original language, incomprehensible by the tongue of humans and other slave races. Spells and power flew from him to no end, layering defenses and preparing for the battle about to come.

He erupted from the facility in a fury, dashing aside the last remaining troopers that had survived the Jedi and their escape, and tore after them through the forest, tracking the pair through scent and magic.

He would not be denied this, even as he felt the touch of the ultimate darkness approaching. The Emperor was here, on Dathomir, and only by proving that this form was more suited to him did Gor-lak hope to be spared the wrath of the man.

Thus, he did his best to herd the Jedi closer to the Sith academy, and still close his distance between them, so that he arrived to them long before they reached the small patch of civilization that existed in the wild, remote world.

Alas, he did not expect the Emperor to start toward his facility as well, and when he did finally catch up to the Jedi, they were already engrossed in a fight with the black guards of the Emperor, probably stalling for the man himself to arrive.

They would not steal Gor-lak's moment. The beast-like body leapt high into the air, crashing down like a localized storm of power. Magic blasted in all directions, plowing over the Jedi and the royal arcanamach in equal measure, and he went into a pure frenzy.

Lightsaber blades were powerless against his reinforced hide, genetically created from several different and highly specialized creatures' hides and carapaces. He was nigh invulnerable to damage. He also had specifically engineered a certain resistance to the Force, to make his life easier when he at last defied the Emperor, once all opposition was crushed beneath them, and strove at last to return the orks to their rightful place in the universe.

Accessing the full might of his sorcery, Gor-lak could feel the crackle of his balefire flowing through him, focusing the lightning of his wrath upon the dueling figures, forcing them to scatter and flee from before him.

Unsurprisingly, each group turned on him immediately, but Gor-lak wouldn't have had any better a test for his new body. The fools that served the Emperor were first to try and lash back with saber and their power over the Dark Side, and Gor-lak allowed the toughened hide of the beast to take the brunt of the attack, permitting him to proceed with his offence, crushing one underfoot and knocking another backward into a patch of highly poisonous nettles. The screams of that one's passing were glorious to hear.

"My power knows no limit! Now, die…." Gor-lak said, rising up to tower over the other fools that dared oppose him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luna had known true terror before, when she had faced the Emperor himself in combat. That time, the fear had stemmed from the monster himself, radiating outward and affecting every living thing on his flagship, and Luna had had no choice but to flee before his wrath.

This… this was different. She felt the fear in her own heart. The abject horror that that which she had worked for so long to acquire might slip from her grasp, and fall back into the wretched hand that had first procured it. Ist would not flee, as she had the heart of a Jedi, unable to feel or sense the insurmountable challenge ahead, and willing to lay down her own life for even a spark of hope.

Luna had been that way once, but age and experience had taught her hard lessons. She was willing to go to her death, even now, but more to see her apprentice once more in the Force rather than for something as intangible as truth or justice.

All she knew was that the precious objects that they had gained must escape this place, and make it back into the hands of those who would resist evil, and not allow it to taint them as it had tainted Luna.

So she threw herself at the monster that Gor-lak the Cruel had unleashed, ducking the swinging claws and dodging the flaming breath that the beast conjured. Ist was trying to find an opening, but Luna knew that their time was up the moment she had seem the black robes of the Royal Guard.

He was here, and between the Emperor and this beast, there would be no victory, no escape for her.

"Flee! Run from this place," she pled with Ist, even as the beast's claws sent her skidding backward, dirt and debris flying from beneath her boots.

"I will not leave you!" the Bothan said, her pure light radiating outward from her powerful heart.

"You must!" Luna demanded, sensing the black tide that was rapidly approaching. Soon there would be two monsters rampaging through these woods, and Luna was not about to throw everything away just for a valiant last stand for the pair of them. "This is my fight, not yours!"

"I will stand with you!" Ist insisted, and Luna growled low in her throat as she threw herself backward, propelling Ist away from Gor-lak's crashing fists with the Force.

Luna quickly realized that as long as she lived, Ist's hope of their escaping together would thrive. And try as she might, Luna would not be able to slip back into the shadows this time, not with Ist, nor her rebellion, not with anyone. The Emperor had sensed that she was alive, and would burn the Galaxy star to star in order to find her.

She had to allow herself to die, so that Ist, and her rebellion, might live.

Turning to look at the monster of the High Inquisitor, rampaging with the last remnant of the vanguard of Veneficus, she knew what she had to do. This monster would not live to serve the Emperor, even if it took all that Luna had to slay it.

Tapping into what was left of her love for the Galaxy, that pure, unbridled light that she had kept contained for so long, she let go of her fear for the future, placing it squarely into the hands of the female Bothan who stood not twenty feet from her.

"You will do what is right, and save the Galaxy," Luna felt impressed to say, even as she took hold of her weapon in both hands, and charged the beast head on.

Gor-lak roared, stomping madly and swinging the saber deflecting claws in a wide low arc, but Luna was consumed by the power of the Light, allowing it to guide her actions. She leapt, arcing over the beasts head and landing on its back, before driving her saber downward as hard as she had strength to do.

A rush of power surged through her, guiding her blade squarely into the crook of the hardened plates that made up the armored hide of the beast, scoring deeply and burning inward, digging into the square of the beast's back, toward the heart.

Gor-lak howled and reared back, clearly intend on smashing Luna against whatever it could find to dislodge her, but Luna could not let go of her weapon. The added momentum as her body struck an outcropping of rock punched the blade even deeper, and through the Force Luna sensed the violet plasma strike the heart of her foe.

The beast twitched violently, flaling forward and flinging Luna from its back. Her blade clattered to the ground, and Luna felt the weight of the world sink in upon her. Something was broken inside her, she could feel it, and there were parts of her that would not respond, even as Ist shrieked for her to get up.

Luna knew what had happened. The beast was dead, and the Emperor had arrived. Even as Gor-lak's disembodied spirit rose once more from the corpse, Luna silently prayed for a quick death and for Ist to escape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veneficus looked on at the scene unraveling before him. Things couldn't have gone better for his arrival. Gor-lak, caught red handed in some sort of betrayal and definitely dead, his incoporial spirit notwithstanding, and more importantly Lovegood, broken and unable to escape, but still very much alive.

The woman still, even now, shone like a beacon of light in a sea of the Dark Side, and even the sight of it sickened the Eternal Emperor. "Well, well…" he said, working hard to contain his excitement. "It seems that everything had finally come full circle."

He stopped just short of Lovegood's fallen body. From the angle of her legs, it was clear that there was spinal damage, and she would not be standing anytime soon, but at long last he had her where he wanted her. But… now that he had what he desired, a swift outcome of death seemed not sufficient for him.

"Master…." The ghost of Gor-lak whimpered, struggling to remain in this world, although the Emperor was well aware that the ork had made multiple safety nets iun case of his untimely demise.

"Enough, creature," Veneficus said, holding up a hand and grasping the ghost with the Force, "I've heard well enough of your excuses. You were sent to find the rogue Jedi, and here I find a plot to empower yourself above that which I have allotted to you…"

The creature seemed well enough to handle a few more transfers from body to body, and Veneficus wondered if Gor-lak would dare to attempt to possess the body of the Emperor, but when the ork spirit did nothing, the Sith Lord smirked.

"But you've finally brought the one Jedi I have most desired to bring to heel before me, so I suppose there can be a bit of restraint to your punishment for failing me…" he said, and sensed through the Force as both of his intended victims flinched.

Oh yes, Lovegood wished for death at this point, but that lovely little light was not snuffed out just yet, and it wouldn't do to just kill her anymore. She had caused far too much damage to him personally, and for that she had to suffer quite a deal before Veneficus would allow her the release of death.

"Commander," Veneficus said, opening a channel to the leader of his flagship, "bombard the settlements and all spaceports. I do not want a single ship ever leaving this world again. Dathomir is under quarantine, and if a forbidden world from now on."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the response came, and only several seconds passed before laserfire rained down from the skies, striking the various academies and spaceports that were scattered throughout the system. There would be no technology left on world to allow these two to escape, unless Veneficus knew of it.

"Now, for the pair of you…" he said, allowing Dark Magic to hiss forth from his hands, covering the ground in a dark miasma, "I will deal with two birds at once."

Reaching out and snaking a string of magic around Gor-lak's form, he dragged the struggling ork spirit from the air, ritually sacrificing the blood of the hulking beast and his own dead guards to form a new pact for the spirit to bond with… in Lovegood.

The Jedi Master shrieked as the ghost started to be forced into her body; cohabitating with her already damaged and very light spirit. Veneficus smirked at the mutual agony that they shared, and would yet share for years to come. A flick of the wrist and the woman's spine was healed, and Veneficus stepped back as she arose shakily.

" _What… What have you done_?" she asked, her voice now reverberating with the sound of Gor-lak's behind it.

"Why, my dear… I've given you a gift…" Veneficus said sarcastically. "I've preserved you alive, and added to your already considerable power…"

He stole away her saber at that moment with the Force, twiddling the handmade hilt in his hands, "Although," he said, as though only just thinking of it, "You might not like the full benefits… An ork spirit sharing host with a human female… one light, the other dark… oh the conflict it will make, and with all technology that could get you off this rock gone, and none coming… I suppose you'll both be in excellent company for a nice… _long_ … time…" he added, walking away.

He knew the moment that the pair tried to act separately, each in turn wanting to attack him. A sudden explosion of power rocked the glade, splintering trees and liquefying rocks, but Veneficus strode away confidently. He had his revenge. Lovegood would not need to die, as she would wish for it in due time, and Gor-lak would be there to prevent it.

Each would be the jailor for and prisoner of the other, until the balance shifted. And Veneficus knew that, in due time, Lovegood would fall completely to darkness, unable to cope with the evil spirit of the beast within herself. Only when that happy day finally happened would he return and finally kill the pair of them.

It was an exquisite form of torment, and something that he was very glad had been provided to him by the Force itself. Even as Veneficus took the last shuttle left on the planet and returned to his orbiting fleet, he could still sense the powerful surges in the Force as each prisoner struggled to have a measure of control over their shared body without the other's interference.

"What are your orders, my Lord?" the helmsman asked as Veneficus arrived on the bridge.

Breathing deeply, and thinking for a long moment, he shook his head. Other matters could wait, "Return us to Coruscant; I have work to resume, now that this matter is finally dealt with once and for all…"

"Yes, your Majesty," the man replied, forwarding the orders as the Eternal Emperor took his seat on the bridge, overlooking the busy workers as the entire ship started for Lightspeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus smirked in triumph. According to what research he had done, and the calculations that he had painstakingly underwent to prepare this powerful poison, he felt strongly that it was ready. The only problem was the lack of anyone to field test it on. Should everything go as planned, it would possess the power to eat away the magic of the Emperor, and any of his millions of followers that happened to be magical.

Namely, that meant the royal Arcanamach, who guarded the man's palace on Coruscant day in and day out. If this poison worked, they had a way to punch through the most elite guards in all the Empire, and have a momentary chance to strike at the Emperor himself. Of course, that was all in speculation. He had little idea how well it would function on a live subject, even if his blood samples showed the effective ruthlessness of the potion on a micro scale.

The other factor came into gathering enough of the rarer materials to actually mass produce such a toxin, and the risk that carrying so much of it around would cause. That was why Severus never had more than a single vial's worth mixed at any one time, and was extremely cautious with it every moment that it existed.

However, with Ms. Granger having just recently returned from establishing their new base, Severus felt it was finally time to share this discovery with the only other one that the Potions Master could trust to keep a secret this vital for their success.

"What have you called me for, Severus, we're running rather tight on time as it is with the new base, so I don't have long…" the woman said as she swept into his chambers, uncaring if Severus was in the middle of an experiment or not. But that brashness was exactly what drew so many to their cause, and so Severus forgave the abrupt intrusion.

"Trust me, Ms. Granger," he said, straightening up from examining the latest sample of blood being eaten away by the poison, "You'll want to see this…"

He offered the observation device to her, and stepped abck as Granger leaned in to look for herself. "I've been working on a very specialized potion…" Severus started, moving around the table and putting several loose tomes away, "Taking some of my blood as a sample, I've been researching the specific bodies within our systems that allow us to harness magic at its source…"

"The blood…" Granger breathed, looking closer, "It's dying…"

"Yes," Severus affirmed, "I figured that if Potter stopped us from healing with magic, then I should turn to the opposite. And develop a poison that only affects those with the same bodies in their blood that grant access to magic."

Granger stepped away quickly, as though the experiment had burned her, "You can't possibly mean that this could kill magical beings?" she asked, starting to sound affronted. "We cannot resort to such methods."

"…and I would agree," Severus said, cutting her off, "if the entire galaxy was filled with those who were also magic users. But that is not the case, as there is only a small handful of the Empire that has magical blood."

Granger's eyes widened as she understood, "The Emperor and his guards…"

"Precisely," Severus replied, seeing her mind already spinning with how they could end the madness with this poison. "with this we could easily infiltrate the Imperial Palance and remove the head of the Empire from his throne forever."

"It won't work…" said another voice.

Severus whirled, wand in hand and a curse already flying at the intruder. The helmeted figured dodged out of the way inhumanly fast, and Severus had a shot of dread course through him.

"Shade!?" Hermione shouted, her blasters in hand and aimed at the operative, "how did you come here?" she demanded.

"I smuggled myself aboard your ship, after I realized that you had no intention of speaking with me regarding any of your designs." The being said, tilting the helmeted head, "and now that I see what you both are concocting, I understand the secrecy."

"We cannot allow you to leave here now," Severus said, asserting himself as authority in his own lab. A flick of his wrist and the unknown operative was bound hand and foot, although the being managed to remain upright.

"It matters not, your plan is a good one, but it won't work on the Emperor or his guards," the operative continued.

"How would you know that?" Severus demanded, moving the being with his magic to sit in a chair.

"Remove my helmet and find out why I know…" the being replied calmly, and Severus was all too happy to oblige, vanishing the shroud that prevented them from knowing the unknown benefactor of so many years.

"As you see, I have very important inside information," the human said, his face drawn and tired, but very much recognizable.

"Blaise Zabini?" Granger breathed, "That's not possible…"

"Trust me, Director Granger, it is more than possible," Zabini said, his dark eyes already glinting with a small amount of amusement. "I mean, there are roughly a hundred of me running about under the service of the Emperor."

"A clone…" Severus said, leveling his wand on the revealed man.

"True, but one that has finally met a mutation that allowed me to break away from the yoke of bondage that Veneficus placed so thoroughly on my brothers…" Zabini affirmed, twitching slightly to a more comfortable position as his bonds would allow.

"We cannot trust anything he has to say," Severus said, turning to Granger, but Zabini just chuckled.

"Oh, Severus, you were so quick to trust me before, and look what that trust has so far achieved. Your poison would not have come this far without my help, so why balk when I want to nudge it along a bit further?" the man said, looking almost bored in his restraints.

"It's true," Granger added, not taking her eyes off the clone, "he has not betrayed us so far, and even now he could have attempted to reveal our location, and has not done so…" she turned to face Severus, "We might just be able to trust him."

Severus snarled, unhappy that this was unraveling so quickly. "Fine, then why won't my poison work?" he demanded, turning on their now prisoner.

"You've tested it on mage-born blood alone," the man said, "but the Emperor is more than a mage-born. He is a Force user as well, which means his blood is different from anything else in the Galaxy… unique if you will, and he used his alchemy to make me and my brothers the same. One part mage-born, one part Force user…"

"Simple then, we use your blood and alter the poison even further, and it removes the majority of the risk…" Severus said, starting to smirk once more.

"Again, not quite." Blaise countered. "Oh yes, my blood will perfect your poison for the Emperor, but it will also work on any derivation of the blood that goes into it… your poison will kill any Force user, Mage-born, or combination of the two if you use my blood as its base."

"But will it kill the Emperor?" Severus pushed, stepping closer to the bound man. Everything would be worth it if the madman was finally put down.

"It will certainly weaken him, given his current state, but you have an unknown window…" Blaise said, "As we speak, and since the war ended, Veneficus has been searching for the key to true immortality. If he is not stopped, I fear that he will eventually find the answer that he seeks. He will truly become the Eternal Emperor…"

"What do you mean 'his current state'?" Severus pressed, momentarily wondering if any of this freely given information could even be trusted.

"The Emperor has been in a state of necrosis since the final battle of the war, forced to resort to strange and downright secretive means to preserve his youth and vitality." Blaise replied, and Severus nodded, understanding.

"The Philosopher's Stone." He said at last, "He's been drinking the Elixir of Life…"

"The very same object that you sought information on how to create your own…" Blaise added, which sparked a sense of suspicion in Severus. He hadn't told many the specifics of that mission, not even the illusive operative.

"How do you know that?" he demanded.

"I have eyes and ears still within the loyal ranks of the Emperor's guard. I am sure you discovered very quickly that he had foreseen and countered such an attempt." Blaise replied quickly, "I had hoped, and have then been proven right, that you would find something else to use against him."

"Severus," Granger started, speaking softly, and the Potions Master realized that he was white knuckling his wand in his tenseness and suspicion. "I think he has more than proved that he is no longer on the side of the Emperor, although I do not agree with him remaining in this base any longer than he has."

"By all means, I'll gladly go back to the new base," Blaise said, "I just wanted to make sure that what I had started was yielding fruit."

"You will be leaving a sizeable blood donation here before you leave," Severus informed the bound operative, "If what you say is true, then I need to run more tests and potentially develop a variant poison."

"You will do what you must, but I will continue to help fight against the madman that bred me and my brothers into loyal killing machines." Blaise affirmed, and Hermione flicked her wand to release him.

Severus shot her a glance as she turned to leave, clearly telling the Director that he still did not fully trust their subtle friend any longer, now that they knew of his past loyalties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist ran as swiftly as the Force allowed her. The sheer terror of the Emperor, and the hideous torment that Luna was undergoing was sufficient to send her speeding through the undergrowth, bound for her ship and to escape back to Rebel controlled worlds.

Luna had been right all along. Ist had had no chance of bringing the esteemed Jedi Master with her back to the rebels. She would be lucky just to escape with the Royal Fleet in orbit over the planet, apparently knocking out every major spaceport and source of technology on the planet.

The fact that Veneficus would throw away an entire planet, complete with an academy and loyal followers just to eliminate Luna was testimony to his obsession to eliminate the powerful Jedi.

Ist clutched the package of items that she had been given by Luna, knowing in her heart that these things needed to reach their leaders back on Hoth, if the Jedi Master's last act was to serve fighting the Empire. Ist wouldn't let Luna's sacrifice be in vain.

Even as she reached the small clearing where her ship was hidden, there was a tremendous blast of Force energy, carrying a shriek of purest pain and torture, and Ist had to shield herself from the power behind it. Something unnatural and downright evil was happening, and Ist could only imagine what fight Luna was putting between herself and the Emperor to buy as much time as possible for the Bothen to escape.

The Imperial freighter pulled up slowly, gaining momentum as it lifted out of the trees, but there was a problem. A massive Imperial cruiser loomed overhead, just past the cloud line, and Ist had no means of outrunning it or its fighter vanguard.

Nevertheless, she had a new mission, and trusting in the Force to guide her, she gunned the engines, hoping that all the time she spent in simulators would be sufficient to see her through this.

She still jumped slightly at the first sign that she was being shot at, as several sith fighters zoomed past her. They weren't even trying to get her to land, just shoot her from the sky. The only mercy was that the freighter had some relatively strong shields, and would easily take a beating from the fighters before failing.

She just had to stay out of range of the massive capital ship, and she might make it. Keeping to a straight course that angled toward one of the few blind spots that Imperial ships held, Ist hoped that the Empire hadn't corrected that little defect in the time between her simulations and now.

The fighters buzzed her again, and the shields fell into the yellow, a warning light indicating that they wouldn't stand up to too many more direct hits, but Ist knew that the massive cruiser was the bigger worry, and held her course. Even as the mighty ship started to turn and put her in its field of fire, Ist angled once more to stay just inside the sliver of blindness that had been drilled into her for any sort of infiltration mission on a capital ship of that size and firepower.

Soon she broke the atmosphere, and sucked in a breath of fear as two more cruisers started toward her vector, clear intent to trap her in a pincer between their trajectories. She wasn't far enough from the gravitation pull of the planet to jump to Hyperspace, but she started the computer plotting a course nevertheless. The moment she was in range she wanted to punch it without delay.

More fighters appeared, and Ist struggled to keep on course, the smaller ships were desperately trying to make her veer to the left or right, and puller her into the range of the weapons of the pursuing ship.

"Just a bit more, come on…" Ist urged the battered ship, even as her shields fell into the red. Another warning signal flashed, and Ist saw the problem. A fighter was on a direct collision course with her, desperate to prevent her getting any farther from the planet.

The Force called to her, and she harkened, letting go of the physical world and tapping into the raw potential that existed around her. Scarcely aware of her actions, she veered to the left sharply, barely missing the fighter, before immediately hauling the ship back into the safe line from the cruiser behind her, just as she sensed herself reach the outer edge where Lightspeed was possible.

The ship lurched forward as the shields failed at last, but Ist's hand was already on the controls to make the jump, and the stars blurred all around her, even as she escaped to safety. Following standard procedure as established by Commander Flitwick, she stuttered her jumps, bouncing around at least five times before making her way back to Bakura, and the safety of the defensive fleet of the rebellion.

As she passed through a complicated series of jumps, Ist meditated on what she had learned and what possibly the Rebellion hoped to gain from Luna's sacrifice. Pulling the bag out and looking at the contents, Ist personally had little idea what any of the items were. They were magical, to be sure, and therefore she felt that Director Granger or Professor Snape were the only qualified individuals that she could deliver these to, but she ought to make a report and mark the demise of Luna Lovegood to the Council.

Many would be saddened that the champion of the Light had fallen, but the fact that she had survived this long would also hearten them. If one Master survived the purge of the Jedi and the fall of the Temple, perhaps others had as well.

Ist took comfort in that, however unlikely it might have been. Luna was in a category of power all her own, and conflict was where she had thrived. Most of the other Masters had not been so lucky. Still, Ist was happy that she had at least met her one last time before the great Jedi had fallen.

Soon enough, the haze of Hyperspace faded away for the last time, and Ist quickly sent down the access codes for landing, so that her ship wouldn't be targeted on sight as an Imperial shuttle. She suspected that most of the other had already arrived long ago, and wondered if she would find Shade again, or if the operative had already moved on to his next assignment.

"I need to remember to thank him," Ist said aloud, even as her ship came in for a landing. She recalled that it had been against her better judgment to go after Luna, and it was Shade that had encouraged her to go so deeply into enemy territory and investigate.

Looking down at the bag once more as she prepared to depart the ship, Ist just hoped that the diversion had been worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zhar grimaced as the _Basilisk_ emerged from Hyperspace over the Khar Delba system. He could already sense the mad Togruta from orbit. The fact that Ocraadi Nuhok's presence could be felt from that far away in all its shuddering slime was disturbing. Zhar would typically avoid this entire section of the Empire as a rule, except for the extenuating circumstances.

"My Lord, we are receiving a direct channel from the moon of Khar Shian." The officer in charge over the communication array reported. Zhar swore under his breath. Of course the madwoman would sense him immediately upon his arrival and would wish to immediately gloat over his misfortune with regards to the coup by Feyd.

Sighing deeply, Zhar waved his hand in a permitting gesture. Within moments the hologram of Ocraadi appeared, the Togruta's smarmy grin spreaing across her face.

"Well, Well, Zhar Quelmok…" she said through her grin, "I would never have believed it unless the Supreme Prophet himself told me…"

"Lady Nuhok…" Zhar replied, trying to keep calm in the face of the insane being.

"You really ought to have learned that it was only a matter of time before the young pup started trying to destroy all those who were around before the Emperor rose to power." She added.

"So I take it that he has been layering pressure on you and yours as well?" Zhar asked.

"He can try, but I feel that he will have a significantly harder time forcing his way onto my system than he would with yours…" Ocraadi said, a bit of the madness starting to show through in her cockiness regarding the defense of her system.

"Nevertheless, I get the feeling that the Supreme Prophet's faction will start to push outward and absorb every other system, until he feels able to challenge the Emperor directly." Zhar said, steering the conversation toward his original intention for coming to this part of the Empire's core.

Predictably, Ocraadi laughed, the high screechy sound digging at Zhar's skull. "If that whelp thinks that he can stand against the Emperor, then he had another thing coming…" she said between barking laughs.

"Yes," Zhar said, "I agree that standing up to Lord Veneficus would be suicide, but still Feyd is foolish enough to think that he could make it happen. With this move against me and taking Korriban, it is clear that he is wishing to make the attempt, and I feel that the Emperor needs to learn the truth so that he can command us in what we should do regarding this betrayal from the highest level."

Ocraadi smirked, "You know that this will leave a vacuum in the Dark Council that will only be filled once again by directive of the Emperor himself." She said.

"I do, and I am willing to accept whatsoever outcome will be," Zhar affirmed. It was very likely that, in light of then dethroning of Feyd from the Dark Council by the Emperor would possibly elevate Zhar himself to the position in turn.

Ocraadi was not aware, at least not fully, how much Zhar did not want that level of authority within the Empire. The closer that he was to Veneficus, the less likely that he could escape when the time came for the madman to betray and destroy them all in his pursuit of immortality and absolute power.

But, at the same time, there was a level of sacrifice that would be needed to eliminate Feyd and his dictatorial rule. The Supreme Prophet would destroy Zhar and his plans to escape the madness of the Emperor when the time came. However, if he was Supreme Prophet, that would allow him to be in the best position to make preparations to escape without drawing attention to himself, Euka, or anyone else.

"So, will you permit us sanctuary on your world while we make contact with the Emperor, and protect us from the Supreme Prophet and his warpath that he has started with us?" Zhar asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter.

"Hmm," Ocraadi said, tapping her chin as she annoyingly pondered the request. "I don't know. It would be a great difficulty for us, on top of the potential consequences if the young pup found out that we were sheltering you from him…"

"But… it would grant you the potential contact with the Emperor, and reward for informing him of the truth that is occurring with his Empire." Zhar said, knowing full well that he was tempting her with the one thing that she desired most, the same as all of the fanatic loyalists to the Emperor desired.

"Well, if you put it that way," Ocraadi replied predictably, "I suppose that there would be some place for your forces that you've brought with you, and we have had a lack of communication from the Emperor lately, so I could see that out communication channels are available for you."

"That would be most agreeable with us, I thank you on behalf of those who are with me," Zhar said, his hand already itching to close the communication.

"We'll see you shortly, then," Ocraadi replied, and the screen went black.

Releasing a massive sigh, Zhar gave the direction for their ships to head for the spaceport of Khar Shian.

"So, this Lady Nuhok is quite an… interesting one…" Euka said, having remained silent for the entire exchange. Zhar didn't have the desire to even bother responding and just walked away grumbling at the mad Togruta and how he had to deal with her once more after so long.


	19. C18: Sinister Motives

**Many thanks to those who've reviewed the last few chapters! Things are really starting to heat up, both here at the posting level as well as the writing level, which is drawing significantly close to the end of the story. I already have a good plan of what will be accomplished next, before commencing on another large project, which I am very excited for, but more on that later on when it becomes relevant. Until then, please R &R and enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

 **Sinister Motives**

Kelrek was quite surprised, after the entire disaster that had occurred on Ord Mantell, that they had not so much as heard word of the Emperor's displeasure. The rebels had escaped, including those still on the planet, although the sorcerer was certain that the Imperial fleet had at least inflicted some damage to their fleet and made it so that they would not come back into the forefront anytime soon.

Still, the rest of the Republic remnant had been destroyed or else assimilated into the rebels and fled, which meant that the Imperial navy had swarmed over the last remaining planets that had held out against the rule of the Emperor, and successfully completed the war that had started decades ago.

But rather than celebrate, the Adept Trio had felt a twinge of worry through the Force. Something had occurred, powerfully, in the direction of the Imperial Core, and although they were not permitted to depart from their region of assignment until called by one in command over the military, it did not stop them from seeking out the source of this disturbance through the Force.

What they had sensed was… disturbing. There was a font of power in the core of the Empire's heart, fluctuating between the Light and Dark sides of the Force. It was almost horrifying to metaphorically look at.

"So, what are we supposed to do in light of this event?" Srillis asked, even as the three of them withdrew from the Force and the near blinding effect of the unknown surge of power.

"I highly doubt we're qualified, let alone permitted to do anything, let alone even know more than we do regarding this singularity…" Kelrek replied.

"Should we contact one of the Dark Council and seek further orders now that the war with the Republic is at long last ended?" Jenah offered.

"Possibly, but I would rather you contact Lord Diábolis and see what he would have of us…" Kelrek retorted, "He seemed to have an invested interest in what we did after the battles were ended."

"That is also a possibility." Jenah replied, turning toward the console and starting to open an encoded communication.

Kelrek contemplated withdrawing while the others spoke with the Sith apprentice, and possibly go back to his tinkering with the complex art of the Dark Side and ancient Sith sorcery. It was a small act of rebellion on his own, but he found it an act of meditation to tinker with those powers that he knew that the Emperor worked with on a daily basis.

Personally, Kelrek would be more than honored to serve directly under the Emperor and learn the secret arts directly from the master. Rumor held that there was a secret cabal of alchemists that served under the direct order from Darth Veneficus to create new weapons of the Dark Side and conduct research as he demanded.

However, the elite nature of those groups, plus the fact that there was likely a certain bias toward Kelrek specifically for knowing Veneficus before he rose to the throne of Emperor that prevented him from that aspiration.

But with Diábolis as leader over the Empire, there was a chance that Kelrek would at last be entitled to the position of honor and glory that he desired. Plus it would remove him from the possibility of being placed on the front lines anymore. Not that he was terribly willing to be separated from the pair that were almost like sisters to him, but Kelrek felt it was finally time for them to go their own paths and shine on their own merits rather than as a collective unit.

The strength of the Dark Side glorified the individual, and while there was an advantage that they had enjoyed during the war by building off their mutual strengths, that time had just passed.

"Lord Diábolis," Jenah said as the communication finally connected.

The Devaronian Sith Lord turned slightly to face them as the hologram flared to life. "Ah, the trio… I gather that the war is now officially finished…"

"Yes, my Lord," Srilis replied, and Kelrek stepped forward to join the others.

"Good, I do have need of some able bodied adepts such as you three." The Sith said, smirking, "there is a world that I need explored, on the edges of wild space. I am sending the coordinates to you now, but before you delve into any ruins or dense areas you will call and summon me with a report of rebel presence there."

The others glanced at each other, but Kelrek understood the need for the false report. Diábolis was assigned to investigate and eliminate the rebels wherever they are found, and if he was searching for something to help dethrone the Emperor that he did not want the man to know about, what better way to conceal it than to use what the Emperor had commanded him to do as a smokescreen.

"We understand, and will obey, my Lord," Kelrek said then, stepping forward and watching the data transfer to a blank data disk.

"Do not fail me, the fate of the Empire might just rest upon your shoulders with this endeavor." The Devaronian said, before fading from view as the holoprojection dispelled.

"This sounds rather traitorous, if we go through with it… I don't agree…" Jenah said as soon as the Sith Lord was gone from the screen.

"No, I don't believe it to be the case," Kelrek rebutted, smirking as he collected the disk. "We are aiding the Sith Lords, whether it is the master or the apprentice it doesn't matter…"

"Therefore," he continued, preventing any of the others from countering his argument, "It really doesn't matter which one of them we help, so long as it is beneficial to us in the long run."

It still did not look like the pair agreed with his assessment of the matter, but the fact that he had the data disk and they were not preventing him from handing it off to the navigation officer told him that they would go along with his plan for the time being.

All he needed was for this to continue until Lord Diábolis defeated the Emperor, and then they would understand that they were backing the future, rather than the stagnant past.

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Jedi Lord Berethon felt uneasy at the sudden shift in the Force. In the midst of the great tides of Darkness the pervaded the Galaxy, a spark of light so bright had surged, almost intentionally drawing attention to itself, before transforming into a truly horrific singularity, fluxing between extreme light and extreme darkness.

The last remaining Jedi Councilor from the wartime council turned slightly in his chair, seeking for a more comfortable position, but the strain on his mind was ever present. Something terrible had happened, and it greatly seemed that the Galaxy was drifting into a void wherein no light would shine at all.

If the Emperor and his Sith were not stopped soon, Berethon wasn't certain if the Jedi would ever have the strength needed to overthrow his tyranny and restore true peace to the Galaxy. Had he not already concluded that it would be suicidal, he would have taken the strongest of their Knights and Masters, and lain siege to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, trying to eliminate the Emperor directly. But unfortunately, he had witnessed the terrible power that that man held firsthand, and Berethon was already gravely injured by that monster once.

The confines of his chair were testament to that already, and his ability in combat had suffered greatly as a result. He was reduced from the great warrior that he had once been to that of a consult, requested at times and quite often ignored and set aside otherwise. It was a fact of this new life of hiding that was as grating on him as it could be for a Jedi, to have skill but not the opportunity or ability to serve in any capacity.

Many times the Healers had tried to mend the vertebra in his back, to allow him freedom of motion once more. It had gotten to the point where he could stand under his own power for a few moments, but nothing more past that point. Berethon had greatly hoped that Severus Snape and his potions would have been able to cure him completely, but the Emperor had prevented them from attaining that sort of cure.

Now, Berethon was confined to rely on the strength of others, and learn the humility to ask for assistance in even basic things. A trial of his own after a manner of speaking, but one that he bore with longsuffering. As a Jedi, he understood the tenants of sacrifice and need. Whether he fully agreed with them in his personal opinion was another matter altogether.

Powering on the mobile chair that he used, Berethon turned and headed toward one of the saber training rooms. He had not drawn his blade since the day he lost the ability to walk, and he knew that his skills might have started to grow lax, but he had to do something to keep his mind from dwelling on dark things.

Entering the room, where many droids laid in wait for commands, he slowly started programming one to assist him build an entirely new saber style, that would be effective from the limiting range of his chair. He had a feeling that the base form would end up being Soresu, as patience and determination would be paramount if he ever had need of his blade once more.

One of the droids stepped forward, the arm mounted practice saber flaring to life with its yellow radiance. In answer, Berethon pulled forth his blue blade, taking only a moment to taper the blade slightly shorter than normal to account to his limited range of motion.

The droid stalked forward cautiously, and Berethon kept himself mobile, circling slowly to the left in his chair, saber held in a high guard, but well aware that the chair itself was a great weakness that had to be guarded against attack.

And sure enough, it was the first target that the droid went for. The training saber wouldn't damage the device, but it would disable it for a few moments, which would be disastrous if Berethon were in a real fight, but he struggled onward to keep to his defenses, and not try to lunge forward into his desire to return to Djem So and attack.

Instead, he waited, blocking and deflecting what he could and keeping the seeking blade from finding a target. The droid was relentless, programmed with all seven disciplines of lightsaber combat, and would rotate them routinely, trying to find a weakness in the Jedi Lord's defenses.

Finally, it settled on the highly aggressive Juyo, and attacked, stabbing and hacking sharply at Berethon, alternating between going for the chair and the Jedi's head, which allowed a full range of defense for the Lord to practice. Unfortunately, as it was not his preferred style, or even one that he routinely practiced, Berethon was not able to fully give himself to the Force and embrace the defensive style for long periods of time, as a true master of Soresu could, and he felt himself tiring quickly.

It was time to try and go on the offensive himself. Switching styles quickly, Berethon alternated to the basic of all forms, Shii-Cho, and attempted to use large sweeping strikes to herd his opponent away, alternating some light taps with the Force to deflect his opponent's movement and disrupt the droid's footwork. They were so light and minute that only the greatest of skill Force users would have been able to sense and counter them, Berethon felt, and were much more precise than the massive bursts of power that were used to bull over foes.

Soon enough he had the droid right where he wanted it to be. Snapping the saber in his hand around his head once for momentum, Berethon hurled the weapon, guiding its trajectory with the Force toward the droid's skull, where it impacted sharply. These droids were made with lightsaber combat in mind, and were a heavily enchanted Durasteel, which allowed them to survive even devastating blows from the weapons used on them, but the droid followed its protocols and deactivated when a fatal blow was recognized.

His blue saber arced once around the room and returned quickly to his hand, shutting off and returning to Berethon's belt as a single being started to clap.

Turning sharply, Berethon raised an eyebrow as he recognized Ist Nanraah, recently returned from her mission with Commander Flitwick.

"It's good to see you being active once more, Lord Berethon," she said respectfully, although there was a bit of mirth in her eyes.

The Jedi Lord smiled in reply, but he could sense that something was greatly off about the recently Knighted Jedi.

It took only a moment for him to realize what he sensed, "You were there, where that conflux of the Force occurred…"

"I was," Ist replied, stepping forward and hugging her arms at the memory.

Berethon allowed his chair to carry him forward, "Tell me what is troubling you," he requested, sensing the disproportionate amount of sadness and pain that the Bothan was feeling.

"It was Luna Lovegood…" Ist reported, and slowly started to tell her whole story, from the failure to rescue everyone from Ord Mantell because of the treachery of one commander, to locating the operative, Shade, and her own mission to the planet of Dathomir and the horrendous duel between Master Lovegood, the High Inquisitor, and the appearance of the Emperor himself.

"I was scarcely able to escape, with this," Ist finished, holding out the small, fist sized stone that sparkled with an energy that both Jedi had learned to associate with the Mage-Born exclusively.

"Director Granger had just left once more to further construction on the new base at Bakura, but I can send her word that you are alive and have something for us to use, but there is another here that might be able to give us a more direct answer," Lord Berethon commented.

"Professor Snape," Ist supplied.

"Let us go and consult our friendly Potion Master about this particular item that you have returned to us." The Jedi Lord said, summoning a small hand towel to dry his face as they departed the training room, bound for the power levels of _Sanctuary_ Base and the labs that were the domain of the Mage-Born former teacher.

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Master Yoda was pleased with the amount of work that they had accomplished. Despite several close calls with patrolling Imperial fleets, including a pretty bad deal that went wrong with a now former supplier, they had managed to fill the hold with all sorts of materials that would go directly to building up the new base on Bakura.

In addition, they had worked tirelessly to spread the word to their allies and suppliers of this new base, and how they could get in contact with those on the planet to get clearance to land. Some had even requested to journey back on their ship, and so they were carrying roughly a hundred additional passengers alongside the cargo that they had been sent to acquire in the first place.

"Pulling out of Hyperspace shortly," Admiral Weasley said, and Yoda nodded his acknowledgement. It would be good to arrive back safely. Personally, the Jedi Master was eager to hear of news regarding his former Padawan, and perhaps any intelligence that the rebellion had gathered regarding the surge of power in the Force, which even as they cruised along he could still feel, waxing and waning between each side of the Force like the rising and setting of a sun.

It was eerily familiar to him, which was even more disconcerting. He hoped that Lord Berethon and the other Masters had already taken the time to investigate and determine what the source was, and whether they needed to sent a team of Jedi in to discover the truth of the matter firsthand.

From what Yoda sensed, it was somewhere in the deep core of Sith Space, and therefore fairly dangerous of a task. If anyone was to go, he expected that they might ask him and Ist to make the journey, and privately he wished for that to be the case. If it was familiar to him in the way he suspected, he felt that it might have something to do with Luna Lovegood, and her mysterious disappearance toward the end of the war.

He had not felt the ripple in the Force that heralded her death as others had described, and still held to the belief that his longtime friend was alive, somewhere out in the wilds of the Galaxy. If he could find her, perhaps he could persuade her to return and aid the Rebellion in their fight against the tyranny of the Emperor, perhaps finally end that monster once and for all.

He knew it was a long shot, but if they stood any chance against the dark power of Veneficus, it would have to be with Luna at their side, and the embodiment of the Light that she was.

"Exiting over Bakura now," Weasley announced, as the ship started to slow, and the starlines veering back into the tiny pinpricks that they were. The spells hiding the planet melted away as the ship entered the field it covered, and communications were sent down to the base that they had arrived safely and were beginning landing their supplies and new recruits.

Yoda moved from the bridge at that time, wanting to be among the first planet side, in order to see if there was anyone who could answer his questions, as well as see to it that the new recruits from his ship found their way to whatever processing facility was set up for them.

The shuttles started spilling forth from the cruiser en mass, and Yoda marveled at just how many more ships came up from the surface to meet them, as well as take their place on the larger ship and unload it all the faster.

It seemed even he had underestimated the amount of beings in the Galaxy that wanted to overthrow the Sith Empire, as the planet was literally brimming with beings of all races and species, united in their one desire: freedom and the restoration of the Republic.

Even more surprising was the lightning fast time that it took for those on the surface to recognize a Jedi Master in their midst. Crowded corridors were opened to him in a flash, and every conceivable amenity was offered to him, which he politely refused despite the need for his own refreshment in due time.

But for the time being, he was still on his mission, and he knew exactly the best person to report to. "Director Granger," he said, entering the main command structure.

The woman in question turned from speaking with other high ranking rebels, her face transforming from serious concentration to pure joy. "Master Yoda! I am so pleased that you've returned safely!"

The goblin Jedi Master was momentarily confused, and glanced at the others for understanding. Commander Flitwick and some easily recognizable Republic officers were looking particularly serious.

"Happened, what has?" Yoda asked, turning back to Ms. Granger and trying to tell what she was referring to in the sorrow in her heart.

"We've heard back from your Padawan," she started, and Yoda's heart jumped for a moment, wondering if she was injured or killed. "She found something on a private journey when she got separated from Command Flitwick."

"Found?" Yoda said, pressing for details.

"More of a who, than a what…" Hermione continued, hesitating before seeming to decide to come forth fully with the truth. "Oh Yoda, she found Luna on Dathomir."

Yoda was confused by the news, "Good news that is, why so much sorrow there is?" he asked, seeking clarification.

"Luna was seeking for something that is magical in nature on the planet, something that the High Inquisitor had in his personal vault, and he arrived when she and Ist were seeking it. They fought and before they escaped, the Emperor arrived in person… Luna's dead, or something far worse…"

Yoda felt his heart sink at that. With that, all his thoughts of their ability to actually defeat the Emperor were dashed aside. "And my Padawan, became of her what has?"

"She is fine, reportedly, and last I heard is traveling back to _Sanctuary_ rather than here." Ms. Granger replied. "Apparently she thought that I would be there rather than here and had something important to deliver."

Yoda was relieved that at least Ist had survived unharmed, even if they had truly lost his old friend. There was a shard of curiosity as to the item that his former Padawan was returning to them, but that could wait. He needed to focus on more immediate concerns while the emotions passed that might cloud his thoughts unless addressed properly.

Therefore, after a few moments of readying himself mentally, Yoda started the long process of reporting his adventure and all that they had acquired from the various worlds that had lent aid in secret to the rebellion.

There would be time enough to meet with Ist and go over everything she had witnessed with regard to Luna, but for now, Yoda could wait for that reunion for those feelings to return.

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Severus was not pleased to be interrupted so soon after removing Ms. Granger and Shade from his presence, but one did not refuse the current leader of the Jedi Order when he came floating into his underground laboratory.

"Lord Berethon, what can I do for you?" Severus said, turning and peering over the workbench at the open door. There was an additional figure beside the Jedi Lord, one that was very familiar to him.

"Ah, Knight Ist, a pleasure to see that you've returned safely," he added as the pair moved fully into his vision. Longer distances were starting to become harder to make out for the now very old man, despite the long lifespan of Mage-Born.

"Greeting, Professor," the Bothan replied, bowing formally.

The chair bound Berethon merely inclined his head in greeting, although even that amount of recognition was enough for Severus to feel the sharp sting of regret. He had been the one to elaborate to the Jedi Lord on how the new medicine he might be able to make with the use of the Philosopher's Stone could cure his spinal damage, and despite Severus' failure to acquire the knowledge about creating the legendary substance, the Jedi had shown nothing but patience and forgiveness.

It was a response that Severus wasn't accustomed to, even after all these years. He still vividly remembered the pain from Voldemort, or the equally scarring looks of disappointment that Dumbledore would give if he failed either of the two masters he once served. So have such an understanding and longsuffering response was well outside his expectation as to cause him equal pain, inflicted by himself no less, rather than by the actions of another.

Severus understood why there had been so many devoted to the Jedi and whatever path they chose to pursue, even in the terrible times of war. They lead through action, asking nothing in return from those they helped, and championed the causes that they declared to all.

"We were wondering Professor, if you are not too busy with your work, whether you might be able to inspect an item that young Ist has brought back from her most recent mission," Berethon requested. There was no possible way for Severus to deny the man even if he was inclined to do so.

"Of course," he replied.

"The item seems to have a powerful magical aura, and without Director Granger here, you were the next choice to turn to for answers regarding it," Berethon explained as the younger Jedi pulled from her robes a shining sphere of light.

Severus' eye widened as he saw the orb in her hand. "How did you come by this?" he asked, gingerly taking the sphere in both hands from her.

Even as the Jedi Knight recounted her sad tale, which even Severus was not cold hearted enough to feel the sorrow at the loss of Jedi Master Luna Lovegood, and the discovery of the orb in the vaults of the High Inquisitor.

Each piece of the puzzle seemed to fall into place the more that Severus heard. It would make sense that only a denizen of their home world would understand the true significance of this item, as well as the dangers to the Emperor that it represented.

What was odd after everything was why the monster, Gor-lak, would go through so much trouble to hide away such an object, and not use it immediately to gain whatever information his heart desired. That was assuming of course, Severus admitted to himself, that the being did not actually use it for his own purposes. The parts of the story mentioning the monstrous new body that Gor-lak had created were testament enough that some level of magical understanding had been passed to the Inquisitor, and he had merely been waiting for the last components that he needed to awaken the new shell permanently.

"It is good that Gor-lak failed in his design," Severus commented after Ist was finished, "the amount of destruction that that being could have wrought, if he succeeded in merging completely with that new body could have been enough to threaten everything in the Galaxy. Luna was right to see to his end." He said, noting the looks of sadness on the two Jedi.

"So you know what this orb is, then?" Berethon asked.

"I do, and it is a very good thing that this wound up in our hands and not the Emperor's," Severus replied. "This is a Seer's Stone, or more commonly called an Oracle Stone, and it allows a wielder with sufficient will to gaze through time and space and see or understand how to obtain an object that they desire."

"So it is a powerful form of future sight?" Ist asked, not completely comprehending.

"After a fashion," Severus explained, "but not quite. The stone does not show the guaranteed future, but the steps needed to achieve a certain desired outcome. Whether those steps are attainable or not is up to the wielder and their ability, but it will show a possible future if the will of the one holding the stone is great enough to achieve it."

"So, we can look and see how to defeat the Emperor?" Berethon asked.

"We can, but what we might see could range from perfectly reasonable and capable, to nigh impossible and damning to even attempt…" Severus cautioned. He too was thinking exactly how they might use the stone to defeat the Empire, but the terror they might find if they looked for something too broad might be more than any of them could bear. That was the true risk of the stone. If a will was not strong enough, they might be consumed with despair at not being capable of living out their desire, or else give up on something perfectly attainable by means they were not willing to use.

For the Jedi specifically, Severus knew there was a great risk that the stone would show the need for they themselves to give into the Dark Side in order to defeat their enemies, which would be absolutely unacceptable for their Order. The worry would come by those who might deem it a worthy sacrifice to save the Galaxy, and thereby create an even worse future.

"Before anyone may even consider using this stone, we must consult with all the remaining Mage-Born leaders, I think." Severus continued, conjuring a reinforced stone box and placing the Seer's Stone within. "Something this dangerous must only be used if there is no other course of action that we can take…" he said, even as he sealed the lid and enchanted it to resist all means of opening without removing the spells first.

"We ought to contact Director Granger immediately then, and check in on how the new base is progressing," Lord Berethon suggested, and Ist nodded her agreement.

"I have more work to attend to, but bring me word when you make contact, I will want to know when to expect an influx of people to my labs," Severus said, watching them leave until they were out of sight.

Carefully, he moved to a concealed vault in the wall of his lab, removing the charms that kept it from view and opening it. Inside were other things that he deemed too powerful for anyone to know about or see, including the vials of poison that he was carefully perfecting with the blood of the Blaise Zabini clone. Adding the box with the Seer's Stone within, Severus sealed the thing up again and returned to his work.

However, even as he concentrated and brewed, his mind returned quite often to the limitless possibilities that now lay inside his laboratory. The very secrets that the Emperor sought to keep from them could be theirs now, if they had strong enough a will to take them. The Seer's Stone was not even a dark object, in fact it was a very light oriented object, but as with all things that carried great power, there was always a risk and often a great price that could need to be paid for such knowledge.

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Diábolis smirked at the simplicity of his task: how to get to the far flung world that the Star Map had shown him. Now that the Trio was involved in "searching" for rebels in that section of the Galaxy would be more than capable of summoning him to investigate a supposed insurrection, and in the meantime discovered the hidden artifact that would allow him to defeat the Emperor.

In the meantime however, while he waited for that blessed summon to come to him, Diábolis had other avenues to explore in order to find a means of defeating his master. Through his own network of spies, Diábolis knew that Veneficus was not in his palace at this time, and therefore there was next to nothing that could stop him from snooping around in the areas that his Master frequented when he was alone.

To accomplish this required another side trip away from his fleet's current trajectory, but Diábolis had made plans that allowed him to know where his ships would be over the course of his trip.

The shuttle zoomed through the Coruscanti skyline toward the Imperial palace, and Diábolis thought hard on what he needed to do. Normally he would offer his security codes as the apprentice of the Emperor and enter normally, but that would make a record of his visit, and he couldn't have that happen.

That really left only one possible entrance to the palace, the underbelly of the facility. That route was not without its own horrors and dangers, but as he knew exactly what the monster within was, and how to bypass it if it came to that.

Veering off his current path and landing nearer to the base of the mountain that the Palace was built upon. The entrance to the underbelly was always left open and unguarded, as a tantalizing goal for the brave and the foolish alike.

Ironically, the point of this hole in the base of the temple mound was to be an emergency exit, to escape in the case of overwhelming assault. Much good it did for the Jedi during their fall, but it would aid the Devaronian Sith Lord in entering the Palace without being recorded.

Venturing inside, he cautiously followed the route that he had memorized from records inside of the Palace, navigating the many traps and their victim's bodies that littered the ground, waiting for the giant serpent to come about and devour their decayed flesh. The snake had grown large over the time it had spent in this place, and it was a great threat to any that would try to enter the Imperial Palace by this route, but Dibolis knew the only way to stop the beast.

A direct overload of the Force would activate the preprogrammed flaw in the creature, stunning it long enough to slip past and into the single working lift that would travel up to the bottom levels of the temple.

As if summoned by the mere thought of it, Diábolis turned to see the crimson head of the monster rounding the nearby corner, tongue flicking the air and its burning eyes landing heavily upon the Sith Lord. Without even a thought, Diábolis prodded the weak spot, making the beast collapse to the ground, dazed, and moved onward, leaping another trapped pit and landing in the very center of the small maze. If you weren't looking for the specific markers, you wouldn't find the true way out to the center, and the single lift.

Without waiting, Diábolis took it up, vacating the horrid stench of death and the excrement of serpents, and arrived on the bottom levels of the Palace. Diábolis refused to lower his guard, as it was not unlikely for the Emperor to have considered that some might eventually make it farther than his pet.

Stepping forward cautiously, the Sith Lord took careful note of the holes on the side of the corridor, and the irregular pattern of the floor. Apparently, there indeed was a mechanical trap here, and most assuredly one that would spell either death or discovery if triggered.

Studying the pattern carefully, Diábolis noted that the irregularities were carefully spaced out so that one could step between them easily, and he took his first leapt of faith. Placing a foot carefully down on the first irregular stone, Diábolis sighed as his theory proved correct. Quickly he moved across the room, agilely leaping from irregular stone to the next, until he exited the corridor to the main floor for the archive.

He knew he was in the clear here, as the Arcanamach could patrol this area, and the Emperor would not trap an areas where those fools might be caught in it themselves, and relaxed somewhat. There was still a level of danger, but the intensity had passed.

Moving swiftly, he tore through the documents and items that had been left out, whatever project that the Emperor had recently been looking at, but there was nothing interesting to Diábolis among them. Turning, he briefly considered the Holocron Vault, but it was far too dangerous. The spirits there would assuredly tell his master of intrusion in that place, and he had seen the inside before. There was no room to have anything lying about, and despite the youthful appearance of his master, Diábolis couldn't see in his mind the Emperor of the Galaxy sitting on the floor like a schoolboy.

No, there had to be something here, or perhaps in the various study chambers all along the walls. Aside from the one that Veneficus had changed into a tunnel down to the beast's pit, there was close to four dozen different rooms, anyone one of which could hold the secret he sought.

Time was of the essence, and therefore Diábolis moved with confidence to the nearest one, peering inside and testing the chamber with the Force. He had a feeling that the one he sought would not be able to be opened by just anyone, and therefore moved on, testing each door until he found one that offered resistance to opening.

The first, on the ground floor, that did so he stepped back from, gathering the Force to him and reaching forward, feeling for the manner in which it was sealed. The Emperor wouldn't hide his secrets behind just anything, and the fact that only a mechanical lock barred his way told him this was not what he sought.

Passing on quickly, Diábolis waited, his patience in this task far greater than normal, and knowing that one mistake would have the entire temple's worth of guards raining down upon him, until he found a door that resisted his ability to detect past it with the Force. This likely was what he sought, something so heavily guarded that it had to be sealed with Mage-born magic to prevent even Force users from opening it.

Pacing in front of the door for several moments, the Sith Apprentice determined how best to proceed. He could force his way inside, setting off whatever traps and alarms awaited, but that likely spelled certain death, or else he would need to gather allies that could countered these spells themselves, which in and of itself was a quest equally difficult as killing the Emperor. The only living Mage-born that did not answer to Veneficus were among the rebels, and they would help him as soon as they would lay down and die for the Emperor.

Marking the door in his mind's eye, Diábolis departed back the way he had come. There was nothing that he could do here on his own and survive, but he would find a way past that door somehow, even if he had to augment himself to access that magic on his own. He highly doubted that that would be possible, as even the Force had difficulty operative on such a grand scale without a massive power backing it. Surely the Emperor had such strength, but Diábolis was not so arrogant that he could not accept that the man was a powerhouse of Force capability well beyond the Devaronian.

Still, he refused to give up. The lift landed, and the serpent rose up, ready to strike. Diábolis was surprised that the beast had waited in ambush for him, but stunned it again just as before and quickly made his way out of the pit and into the open air. Once he disappeared into the midst of Coruscant the creature would lost his scent, and Diábolis could then return to his ship.

This side trip was not without its success, if not presenting an even greater challenge for him. Smuggling a Mage-born into the palace was his next objective in order to discover the great secrets of his master, but how he was to accomplish that was another matter altogether.

Almost an hour later, he was speeding away from the planet, plotting his course to the rest of the fleet. For the time being, he would proceed with the plans he had already made, and go off to the north once he was summoned. Perhaps the unknown artifact he was being sent to retrieve would aid him in subduing and transporting a mage-born, although he wasn't sure how anything that the Force could do like that.

But he would not limit himself to only what he knew to be possible. With this new Wild Force in the works of the Galaxy, there seemed to be no limit to what was possible, and it was that wild freedom that he had to rely upon in order to achieve what he desired most: the end of Veneficus, and his own ascension to rule the Galaxy.


	20. C19: Secret Weapons

**I believe I have the ending of story well in sight, approximately three more chapters to write and the Veneficus Trilogy will be completed. Granted, that is still a ways off you all of you, who are I presume eagerly waiting for the rest of the story as it cranks out methodically. Many thanks to those who've reviewed the previous chapter, and I hope you all enjoy the next! R &R, and TTY next time!**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

 **Secret Weapons**

Veneficus turned from watching the blur of stars passing in the wormhole of Hyperspace as his personal comlink started to chime. An extremely select number of individuals knew the required frequency to contact him directly like this, and then only a pair of individuals would dare contact him with it, and then only if the case was drastic in nature.

Turning from the rest of the bridge for a brief respite of privacy, he activated it, gazing curiously at Zhar Quelmok as the High Prophet sighed in relief.

"Your Majesty, I am pleased to have finally been able to contact you," he said, which was rather odd for the man to say. Veneficus was quite aware of the man's fear and distrust of him as the war progressed and ended. For him to willing contact Veneficus and draw attention to himself spoke volumes regarding the seriousness of the man's message.

"Lord Zhar, why are you contacting me so eagerly?" Veneficus asked, genuinely curious now at the man's behavior.

"Your Majesty, I regret to inform you of treachery at the highest levels of the Empire's hierarchy," Zhar said quickly, "Supreme Prophet Feyd has been building a faction of his own forces in the shadows, with desires to overthrow your rule and take command of the Empire himself, and in the process he has been attempting to pressure fellow High Prophets into his ranks."

Veneficus frowned. He was well aware of the young leader's desire to overthrow him and rule in Veneficus' place, but he had not gleaned a whiff of the full extent of the man's planning. This disturbed him greatly, for such a great threat to have gone on unnoticed was very telling of his overwhelming focus on his own goals and lack of attention being given to the rest of the Empire, and specifically the base of power that had placed him upon the throne in the first place.

"In the process of this, Feyd has invaded Korriban and ousted myself and my apprentice from governorship of the planet," Zhar continued as Veneficus thought, "and I believe strongly that Feyd suspects that there may be some sort of weapon or source of power that he could collect to use against you. I would not doubt he has made or will yet make contact with you to tell you another tale, of my own treatchery, but that will be a lie."

"I will be the judge of that," Veneficus replied, enjoying silently the shudder of fear that shot through his most loyal High Prophet. Oh, Veneficus trusted that Zhar was telling him nothing but the truth, filtered by the man's own viewpoint of course, but nothing that was an outright falsehood. The man was too frightened of Veneficus' power to do that. It was one of the things that Veneficus greatly appreciated in Zhar. The man put his own survival above all else, and in doing so he was willing to submit completely to the will of his Emperor.

"Still, your Majesty, I have done nothing that Feyd will attempt to tell you, and I advise that you cease to trust him. He is amassing against you, and once he has the majority of the High Prophets under his sway he will attempt to turn on you." Zhar continued after a moment, and Veneficus silenced him at last with a raised hand.

"I appreciate your forthrightness in bringing this to me as swiftly as you could. Where are you and your apprentice now?" Veneficus asked.

"With Lady Nuhok on Khar Shian," Zhar replied. Veneficus nodded, understanding that if his life was on the line, Zhar would have gone to the only other High Prophet that would side with him over all others.

"Remain there until I summon you. I will take care of the Supreme Prophet and this supposed treachery personally." Veneficus said.

"Yes, your Majesty," Zhar replied, bowing his head and submitting once more to the will of Veneficus.

Dismissing the communication, Veneficus started to plan, casting his view into the Force to see what he had previously been blind to. Looking toward the Core of the Sith Empire, he saw it immediately, and cursed himself for his complacency.

Feyd had already taken control of half of the high council, now minus one from the loss of Dathomir, which now removed all consideration of loss from Veneficus on the desolation of the planet to eliminate his hated rival once and for all.

So many insurgents, even now, were hurriedly searching through the Empire, gathering together all those that would fight against Veneficus, and the fact that so many willingly wanted to change the leadership of the Empire was very telling.

"What is the point of ruling an Empire that does not support you…" Naga Sadow said, the shades of the other Sith appearing all around him.

"My apprentice, this must not be allowed to stand," Millennial advised, for the first time in a long while being in complete agreement with Veneficus' thought process.

"You must win back the adoration and fear of your people, so that your path to your goals is once more clear and unobstructed." Ludo Kreesh added.

"Or else burn it all to the ground and disappear into the shadows with the collection of holocrons, find the answers you seek and allow the Galaxy to think you dead…" Bane suggested, but Veneficus frowned at the progenitor of the Rule of Two.

Bane had never fully supported Veneficus' path of reestablishing the Empire under the rule of a pair of true Sith, and lesser Dark Adepts beneath them. Bane had often spoken this annoyance that clashed to strongly against the Rule he had established, and long had the debates gone between the two regarding the philosophy and how it could be adapted once the Sith had won.

"I will crush this rebellion in my own ranks and from there march onward to cease all dissention in my Empire…" Veneficus said, dismissing the specters of the past. "Leave Hyperspace here…" he demanded, and the rest of the bridge leapt to action, cutting the engines prematurely from their intended destination.

There were no systems nearby where they had stopped, but the open space was what was needed for them to change course and prepare for what was yet to come. Veneficus could sense through the Force that Feyd was still lauding his victory over Korriban, and it was there that he would sever the head of the snake from its body.

"Open communication to Korriban," he commanded, and the officer obeyed, within moments having the holographic display activated as the Emperor stepped into the prime viewing position.

Feyd appeared before him, looking particularly surprised; if not smug about whatever it was that was being plotted in his twisted mind. "My Lord, how good of you to call, I've been trying to reach you for a while now."

"I was otherwise occupied with another task, Supreme Prophet…" Veneficus said, already sensing the lies building up inside the man.

"I regret to inform you of terrible news, Your Majesty." Feyd started, "Zhar Quelmok has betrayed us, and tried to put together a faction of his own to attempt to desert from the Empire and found his own kingdom on the fringe worlds of known space."

"Hmm... A disturbing accusation, you have proof I presume…" Veneficus replied, playing the man's gamer for a brief moment.

"Of course, my Lord," Feyd quickly replied, "when I confronted him, the traitor fled with his apprentice and flagship, leaving his world abandoned and unguarded. For the safety of the Empire I had to take control of the world and make sure that none of his insurgents remained behind."

"I find that very difficult to believe, Supreme Prophet," Veneficus countered, nipping the lies before they had the chance to be built upon, "I sense the falsehood in your voice, the slight quiver of a fearful and powerless mind that seeks above his station. Because of this betrayal, I am coming personally to remove you from your power, and all those that you've turned against me…"

The face of the Supreme Prophet warped immediately, transforming from groveling and servile to hostile and sneering, "I see that you are not as blind as I had hoped, your Majesty," he taunted, "If you wish to bring war to the Empire, we will gladly meet you in battle, but I fear that you've lost what power you had in the political scheme, and will be thoroughly outgunned and outnumbered…"

"You've underestimated me for the last time, Feyd…" Veneficus said solemnly. "Your forces and your ship are as nothing compared to the raw power of the Force…"

"We shall see…" Feyd countered, supremely confident in his abilities and forces.

Shutting down the communication, Veneficus smirked. He would enjoy showing that the Supreme Prophet was vastly overestimating his capabilities.

"Set course for Korriban…" he ordered.

"Shall we signal other fleets to converge on the location, my Lord?" an officer asked.

"I see no reason to trouble any other part of the Empire with this insurrection. We are more than strong enough to see it through whatever Feyd can throw at us. Proceed to jump." Veneficus overruled the suggestion.

"As you command, your Majesty," the man replied, backing down against the will of the Sith Master.

Slowly, the _Terrasque_ turned to its new bearing, and Veneficus watched as they lined up for the new jump. Once the stars blurred once more into the lines of Hyperspace, he turned back to his throne. There would be a great deal of Force related combat occurring when they arrived, and it would be best if he meditated in preparation for the coming conflict.

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Fury was somewhat interesting to try and find out what Diábolis was up to. The Sith Lord had frequently departed from his fleet as they were traveling on long patrols through controlled and suppressed systems. There was clearly something up, and they were being kept in the dark about the Sith Lord's real motives.

To that end, he was waiting in the hangar for Diábolis to return from his latest venture off of the ship. Even as the black robed Devaronian disembarked from his personal ship, Fury approached. "So," he began, sensing the stiffening of the Sith from being addressed, "What is going on…"

Sith Lord and Marauder locked eyes, and Fury could tell that Diábolis was judging whether he was worthy to actually be let into the know of the being's innermost plans and thoughts.

"I am seeking a weapon to change the course of the Galaxy…" the Sith finally said.

Whether that was the truth or close to it, Fury couldn't tell for sure, but it was something that he could latch on to and grasp in his mind, rather than listing through space with no particular goal or motivation.

"Then what is the next move, I presume you were out gathering information on the location of this weapon…" Fury said.

"We have to wait to be summoned," Diábolis replied, "as the Emperor's command has us searching the southern regions for rebel activities. But I have people checking the location of this weapon, and they will report rebel activity so that we can officially investigate."

"I understand," Fury replied, satisfied that there was a plan for them to proceed. While the Marauder definitely suspected what the plan afterward for this weapon was, and how the Emperor might view the notion of Diábolis owning such an item.

Still, there was time between now and when they found this weapon for Fury to decide what he was going to do regarding the situation afterward. But for now, with him and his entire force serving under the Sith Apprentice, Fury would do all he could in order to achieve the goals that Diábolis held, so long as they corresponded with the will of the Emperor.

"Do not try to leave me out when the time comes for this weapon to be retrieved." Fury said, turning away to attend to other matters.

"I had little desire to do so…" Diábolis responded, but Fury wasn't sure if that was truthful either.

Leaving the hangar swiftly, Fury made his way to the training chambers that his Wrathguard, and specifically his apprentice Calamity, had all but taken for themselves to use. Finding the massive, Force-sensitive Troll was not difficult, and Fury beckoned for his apprentice to join him in a private room.

"I have discovered what Diábolis is up to, and secured his momentary trust in acquiring the item he seeks for." Fury explained swiftly, "but I am concerned that such a thing can only be for dethroning the Emperor."

"What shall we do Master?" the troll responded, his grasp over language growing with aid from the Dark Side.

"We wait, aid him in what he seeks, and if it turns out to be for the purpose of threatening the Emperor, I fear we might have to betray Diábolis in order to protect the sanctity of the Empire." Fury affirmed.

Calamity nodded, understanding what level that betrayal might entail. Fury did not want to think that they might be forced to test their skill against the apprentice of the Emperor himself, but if it came down to it, he would not betray Lord Veneficus for any reason. And if that loyalty ended up costing him his life, by fighting the very apprentice of the Emperor, trained as a killing machine for the express purpose of following in the footsteps of Veneficus, then so be it.

"We will do what is required to protect the Emperor," Calamity responded, slowly pounding one massive fist into another. The solidarity between them was near perfect, in that the troll trusted his master and would follow every command he was given, learning and growing more powerful in the process.

Up to this point, the troll had been practicing hard to crush opposition of either rebels or other blaster wielding foes that would easily be overpowered by the sheer strength of the troll. But now, with this potential threat impending before them, Calamity's training needed to change and focus on confrontations with a significantly more skilled warrior in both the Force and the art of the blade.

"We have a great deal of work to do in preparation for such an outcome…" Fury said to this effect, drawing both hilts of his weapons. Calamity seemed to understand where his master was going with this line of training, and pulled forth the massive club-like hilt.

Three blades of crimson light activated, and Fury charged forward, unwilling to hold much back if he was to train his apprentice to aid him in facing off against the Sith Apprentice in the future. Even still, they might not succeed, he admitted, but it was a fight that he relished the opportunity for, one that might at last silence the nagging voice of the Jedi Battlemaster in the back of his mind, telling him that he was not strong enough despite all his training and sacrifice.

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Feyd couldn't help but be somewhat concerned. How Zhar had managed to reach the Emperor first and tell his version of the story over what happened still confused him. And the clear bias of the Emperor toward his favored member of the High Council over the one that led the same group was another thing that sent the Supreme Prophet's blood boiling.

How dare he be so easily passed over? He had all the political power in the Empire to crush even Veneficus himself. And now that the man was daring to come directly to fight him, Feyd had no qualms in calling upon all his favors and allies to rally around the tomb world and fight against whatever force the Emperor mustered against them.

Feyd was more than certain that this would be the civil war that would fracture the Empire completely, and from what work he had done, he knew that those more neutral systems would turn on the Emperor immediately, joining Feyd in his assault to claim the throne of the Empire for himself.

Meanwhile, on the surface of Korriban, Ekitc was rapidly searching for whatever tool or knowledge that Zhar had found that made the man so bold in his desire to flee from the control of the Emperor. If it was that powerful, then Feyd would be Able to use it to destroy the Emperor directly.

"My Lord, sensors indicate that the _Terrasque_ is approaching from Hyperspace," a nearby trooper stated.

"Odd," Feyd replied, more to himself than to any other, "I would have expected the Emperor to start by throwing other, useless forces at us to soften us up before coming himself."

But lo and behold, out of Hyperspace, and rather closer than Feyd would have expected it to stop, the flagship of the Emperor erupted into existence, already firing and launching fighters into real space.

"Scramble fighters and prepare our defenses, I want everything we have thrown at that ship!" Feyd commanded, glaring through the viewscreen at the Emperor's ship.

How the man thought that his one ship, even with all its weapons and abilities, could stand up to nearby half the fleets of the Empire, Feyd did not understand, but if Veneficus wanted to make it easier for Feyd to win, then so be it.

"Reinforcements arriving from other sectors, my Lord," the same officer in charge of the long range sensors declared.

"Good, so begins the end of the Emperor…" Feyd said to himself, watching as more ships appeared at the edge of the system. His eyes widened however, as the ships suddenly flooded with explosions as they ran into some unseen web of mines and explosives.

"My Lord, the fleet is being destroyed, we cannot pinpoint any direct source!" the officer shouted.

But Feyd could sense the reasoning. The Force was screaming as some powerful entity reached through to literally tear the ships apart. "It's the Emperor…" he growled, standing from his chair to reach into the Force himself.

There would be only one means to prevent his advantage, the fleets of the Empire, from being attacked; he would have to wrestle with the Force presence of the Emperor himself. Somehow he had overlooked the fact that the Emperor would immediately use his greatest advantage to tear away, literally, at the strength of Feyd's forces, and strong arm the Supreme Prophet into an arena of the Emperor's own choosing.

Surging into the Force with his own anger and hatred of the man, Feyd send the force of his presence at the massive attacks of the Emperor, which felt like massive tendrils of some mythical beast rending apart the ships.

Taking the attacks head on, Feyd grunted and was forced back into his seat as the crashing waves of complete blackness washed over him. He knew, as much as anyone else could, that the Emperor was effectively the Dark Side incarnate, and more powerful than any Force user alive, but Feyd had supposed that these were merely superstition and exaggeration given to the man for his achievements.

But this… he had never before understood that anyone could be so strong in the Force. Feyd's own ability in the Force was little more than that of a child in comparison. Every feeble attack he managed to form was slapped aside, almost with an air of disappointment and boredom, before more pressure was thrust down upon him.

"How… how can one man be so powerful?!" he said, feeling his body creak in response to the quite physical assault that he was experiencing. His back was being forcefully bent forward, as though shouldering a great weight.

" _Now now, destroying you this way would be much too easy_ …" the voice of the Emperor came floating into Feyd's mind, grating the insides of his brain like rank claws on stone. " _I want you to watch as all your allies are destroyed, and you will know that there is nothing that you can do to save them_!"

Slowly, Feyd was forced, painfully, to stand, and move toward the nearest viewport, which gave the perfect vantage to see the oncoming fleets all around the approaching _Terrasque_ , and the devastation as they were annihilated one by one through either pure Dark Side energy, or else torn apart by the superior firepower of the Emperor's Flagship.

"My Lord, what are your orders?" the admiral in charge asked desperately, looking toward Feyd for guidance, but the Supreme Prophet's tongue was bound, and he had no means to fight off the overpowering will of the Emperor.

Another fleet arrived, and Feyd could recognize the symbols of the flagship of his closest ally on the Dark Council: Armadon Jaccam, High Prophet of Krayiss Two.

" _Ah, another traitor… well, see what awaits you all for opposing my rule…_ " Veneficus' voice rang into Feyd's mind.

The _Terrasque_ started to glow, shields dropping and the main cannon in the center of the ship starting to power up. Feyd tried to close his eyes, knowing what would come next. The ships just exiting from Hyperspace would have no time to dodge, and the beam was meant to devastate portions of a planet. The damage done to any other ship in the imperial fleet would be completely devastating.

" _Feel the taste of true despair_ ," Veneficus taunted as the cannon fired. The flagship of High Prophet Jaccam was more or less instantly vaporized, leaving nothing but a particle cloud of dust in space, before being blown to all directions as the shockwave ran through afterward.

"My Lord!" the admiral shouted, possibly thinking that Feyd could not hear him. How the Supreme Prophet wanted to turn and command him to flee, but the will of the Emperor held him in a vice. Additionally, to their unfortunate state, the admiralty of the Imperial Navy was so bound to obeying the commands of their Dark Side masters, and those that Feyd had surrounded himself with were heavily of the same mind. They would not act unless he himself commanded them to do so.

And thusly, they were all doomed, by Feyd's own machinations. The Emperor had all but won.

" _That is right_ ," Veneficus replied, sinisterly, " _now we merely wait for all of your allies to arrive, and destroy them all one by one, while you watch helplessly… then, and only then, you will finally die for your betrayal_."

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Euka had been quite amazed at the scale of the operation that Lady Nuhok had on Khar Shian with respect to the war beasts that had been used across the outermost battles of the Neo-Sith War. For a leader that was so clearly unhinged as the Togruta to have such as well oiled and flowing operation was impressive, and their work in blending Sith magic as well as selective breeding of their beasts was of interest to the young apprentice.

However, in the midst of watching as several of the Dark Adepts helped deliver a newborn beast from its mother, there was a great burst of power in the Force, cold and deadly in nature. All the Force users in the base had to have felt it, and Euka felt a sheer terror that could only be attributed to one individual. Veneficus had struck at the Supreme Prophet, there was no doubt that this was what had occurred.

Abandoning the birthing ritual before her, Euka ran for where he knew her master would be, keeping well away from his old acquaintance. Whatever had happened between them before, Euka was not aware of, but the off putting nature of the leader of this system was enough for her to have an idea of the nature of it.

Zhar opened the door even as she approached, "You sensed it as well," he asked, and Euka nodded. Beckoning her inside, Zhar looked about out in the corridor once before closing the door completely and locking it from the inside.

"This is what I feared might happen, and why I've worked so hard to find a way to escape from the madman…" Zhar said, turning back to face Euka.

"That was all his power, then?" Euka asked, seeking affirmation for her own fears.

"Yes, in all its glory, the strength to tear capital ships from the sky and crush an individual where they stand. That is the power that that fool Feyd has put himself against." Zhar confirmed, looking greatly disturbed that such power had actually be used.

"And he seeks to live forever, wielding that power over the entire Galaxy, and do what exactly after that?" Euka asked, not understanding the end goal of such a plan.

"Euka, you know I was once a Jedi, and you know that I have much of their knowledge still within me…" Zhar began, and Euka nodded. She had listened clearly to the stories that Zhar had shared, of how he had been one of the Jedi order and his path toward the Dark Side and joining the Sith under the rule of Millennial, back when Veneficus was only a child.

"The Sith have no end goal in mind. They only seek for power, and after that greater power. Once he attains immortality, there will be no stopping him…" Zhar said, his voice growing rather strained in his intensity, "he will seek to burn his way through the universe, galaxy by galaxy, star by star, until he controls everything that ever existed, or will exist."

"So what can we do?" Euka asked, "Fleeing won't matter, if he seeks to control everything…"

"There is no choice but to find a weakness, some flaw that the Emperor possesses, and use that to force him to leave us be, once we depart from him." Zhar explained, "It is not safe to proceed on that particular line here, as our hosts are particular fanatical in their loyalty to the Emperor and his plans."

"I suspect that the Emperor will be selecting me to replace Feyd as Supreme Prophet," Zhar continued, looking unhappy about it. Euka knew the reason, as having those added responsibilities would put more of the burden of research and locating such a weakness in the Emperor squarely on Euka's shoulders, and Zhar did not want to sit back and have someone else do the work of this alone.

It was an odd sort of caring about her wellbeing, as Euka was under no ideas that the man actually cared for her, at least not completely, but more wanting to make sure he was involved to not get betrayed. "I will do whatsoever you command of me, if the need arises," she affirmed, answering the unspoken request that Zhar had made with his pronouncement.

"I know, and I trust you to take on the added tasks that will undoubtedly come as the Emperor attempts to chain us closer to him, and prevent us in the task that we have set for ourselves." Zhar replied. "I just wish that anyone else would be selected, but I can't see another suitable candidate that the Emperor would choose, and I can't imagine him calling another to the Dark Council just to make the leader of the entire body."

"Perhaps, it is time to try and find another to envelope into our circle…" Euka suggested, and when Zhar started to object she pressed onward, "Think of it, you will be Supreme Prophet of Dromund Kaas, as well as High Prophet of Korriban… you can't expect one apprentice to take on both systems, you'll need to take another to handle the Dromund Kaas side of your will, and that will allow you to groom another to see our side of the issue, and convince them the need to gather some leverage over the Emperor so that we can just leave and go about on our own."

"That… actually might work," Zhar admitted, scratching his short beard, "the Emperor won't imagine that we would immediately replace those lost in his sweep of those attempting to eliminate him completely, and for the time being it would be wise for the remaining High Prophets to take on the other duties."

He thought a moment longer, "But if we are to get this to work, it will take a great deal of patience, and careful selection of the potential candidates. Can I trust that finding of a suitable third party to you?" he requested.

"I will consider it my first duty to the furthering of our goals." Euka replied smartly, having already presumed that she would be heavily involved in this plan, as it had been her idea.

"Excellent. For the time being, we will proceed with this as part of our plan, and slowly move on to our original goals, which might be simpler with no others outranking me…" Zhar replied, before chuckling to himself, "Ironic, isn't it… the exact thing that Feyd feared of us is what now is about to happen…"

Euka also laughed, wondering what her rival, Ekitc Batoi, would think when his precious power was all but dust crumbling around his feet because of his and his master's foolishness.

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Ist paused as she left the shuttle, having just landed on Bakura, and turned to look into the sky. She had come to collect the Mage-born leaders, including Director Granger and Commander Flitwick in order to meet with Professor Snape and discuss what to do with the Seer's Stone. What had distracted her only cemented her desire to get them back to Hoth and figure out their goal, as the sheer blast of Dark Side energy sent shudders down her back.

How the Emperor has such strength to routinely send tremors of power through the entire Galaxy, she would never understand, but the evil in the action was as clear as the malicious intent. Some poor soul was feeling the wrath of the Emperor firsthand, and no being in existence ought to suffer the way that the sheer strength of the Dark Side suggested that they were suffering.

Forcefully turning away from the horrific sensation in the Force, Ist moved as quickly as she could from the hangar to the main complex. She was amazed to see how much had been completed since she had left some time ago. The entire main complex of buildings was completed, and even more buildings and dormitories were still being built. Clearly there had been far more recruits than had been expected.

Still, the central plan was the same, and Ist had spent some time memorizing the layout before she had left, even offering a few changes that she saw that they had been taken into account and used.

It took no more than a few minutes to get to the main command center, and the magic-tech cooperation outpost that were operating therein. While normally she would want to investigate all the usage of the Wild Force that these people were able to do with little to no training in the Force as a Jedi, she was on a mission, and focused herself to locating the commander in chief of the Rebellion.

Who she found at the main command room however, did surprise her. "Master Yoda…" she said, stopping at the door and bowing to her old master, who turned at the sounds of her voice.

"Knight Ist! How good of you to return so swiftly," Director Granger said, who had been speaking with the small goblin Jedi. Commander Flitwick was there, along with Sergeant Romacor Stecale, as well as some other of the Republic military leaders.

"Director," Ist replied, glad to see that all those she needed to speak with were together.

"Here you are, because of the surge of the Dark Side you felt?" Yoda asked, which told Ist the reason that all the leaders were together.

"Well no, there is something else that I came regarding," Ist said, and while she had presumed that she would have to wait till the current topic was exhausted, she suddenly found herself the center of attention.

Slowly, she told her tale of Dathomir once more, and explained what Professor Snape had said regarding the Stone. When she mentioned the terrible powers that it possessed, the other started to share glances with each other.

"The possibilities that we could discover with such a device…" one of the republic commanders said, "We could find a weakness of the Emperor, or else a store of weapons that could defeat their fleets. We could learn anything we wished."

"I am concerned about this price that Professor Snape mentioned," Commander Flitwick said, "It sounded particularly terrible…"

"I agree, on both points," Director Granger replied, "We will confer with Professor Snape, and discuss as a group what is to be done with such a powerful artifact. If there is a danger, we need to make sure that the reward is worth whatever price is demanded."

Ist nodded, accepting that her mission was completed. "Now however, with the recent showing of the power of the Emperor, would not such an item be of great importance to us?" the Military officer continued.

"Yes, there is a level of urgency for us to find a direction and pursue it to defeat the Empire, but at the same time we don't want to risk something just as terrible happening in exchange for that information." Flitwick replied.

"Go we shall immediately, to _Sanctuary_ and decide on how to proceed…" Master Yoda added.

"Yes, I cannot help but think that we have found quite a boon in this Seer's Stone, and that we need to make use of it in the wisest, and swiftest manner." Hermione agreed, "We will be departing therefore as soon as we can."

"We will work toward that end then, Director, and make sure that everything runs smoothly here while you are gone," The Republic commander replied, turning and nodding at Sergeant Stecale. The human nodded in recognition to Ist as he passed and departed.

"We will work to get the rest of the structures for our current population here, and then we will go back for more supplies and make our inquiry to Professor Snape at that time." Director Granger said with finality, before turning and walking back to the series of workbenches that lined the inside of the command center.

Ist had to suppress a small smile, recognizing that Ms. Granger had not quite let go of the topic, but was distracting herself so that she could freely think as she worked on some gadget or whatnot.

"Go we will, and inform Professor Snape of the plan," Master Yoda said, beckoning for Ist to some with him.

Together they departed from the room, heading for the large communication tower that would allow them to make contact throughout the Galaxy to those that knew the frequency.

"Pleased I am, that survived your journey you did…" Yoda said as they walked.

Sensing the small tinge of regret in her old master, Ist understood the reasoning behind his comment. "I am sorry about Luna, Master. I tried to bring her back safely, but she was very adamant about her destiny…" Ist replied.

Yoda smiled somewhat as they walked, "Understand that, I do. Headstrong she was, and very confident in her abilities."

"She was amazing to work beside, even for the small amount that we did." Ist said, remembering the sensation of the Light that wafted off the Jedi Master.

"Powerful in the Force, she was," Yoda agreed, "As you are as well…"

Ist blushed at the praise from her old Master, "I didn't feel very powerful in comparison, I wasn't strong enough to help her against Gor-lak, or even the Emperor."

"Did what you had to, you did," Yoda countered, clearly sensing the shame that Ist carried for fleeing the battle when the Emperor arrived. "Few there are, that could stand up to the Emperor. Doubt yourself you shall not. Jedi Knight you are, and the Force your guide is…"

"I understand Master." Ist replied, smiling in spite of the memories. Yoda had always had that effect on her, in being able to lighten her spirit and point out things about herself that she had long forgotten, or else was ignoring in favor of more negative aspects.

They arrived at the tower, and started up one of the lifts to the communication array in silence. As they arrived in the communication array, Ist stopped as the masked figure of Shade appeared around one of the corners of the private lines were.

"Ah, Knight Ist, you've returned. I am glad for that." The masked being said, "I trust that your trip to Dathomir was productive for the Rebellion as a whole?"

"One could say that," Ist replied, feeling somewhat off about the man, who had apparently lowered his shields that blocked the Force for the time being. The strange part about it was, with them down, Ist could sense a strange cold sensation that lingered on the man. It was rather unpleasant, and had her wondering momentarily at just who was behind the mask.


	21. C20: Transition of Power

**Many thanks to those who've reviewed the last few chapters. It is a strange thing, writing with the character choices in charge, and sudden finding yourself spiraling toward the conclusion long before you expected to. although not unwelcome, it is certainly a surprise for me, and while we still have a good couple of months worth of posts left to go, the writing front is nearing the end of the series. it is an odd feeling, but I'll discuss that as we reach closer toward the end. Please R &R, and enjoy the chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty**

 **Transition of Power**

Kelrek reeled a bit at the burst of power that erupted from the core of the Empire. It seemed as though the Emperor himself had come down hard upon some faction of rebellion from within the very elite of the hierarchy.

"And that is what we need to fear…" Jennah said, stepping beside Kelrek, who was studying the navigation charts for their long, roundabout course to the coordinates that Lord Diábolis had given them.

"We will be fine, so long as we stick to the plan and leave as soon as our part in the Sith Apprentice's plans is completed," Kelrek informed her, only for the sixth or seventh time since they started this journey and at least the fiftieth since they ceased communication with Diábolis.

"You know as much as I that the end of this business won't be as simple as that…" Jennah replied, continuing to push the narrative of her own fear.

"Perhaps it will be, perhaps not," Kelrek countered, trying to carry on plotting their course, and figuring out where they might be able to directly jump to the location.

"Kelrek…" Jennah said, placing a hand in his way so that he could do nothing but look at her. "I have a terrible feeling about getting involved in this shadow war between the Sith Lords… something terrible will happen."

"Sometimes, risks must be taken in order to further one's advancement in the Galaxy…" Kelrek replied, pulling away the Marauder's hand from the screen. "We will be involved only as much as we need to be, and then reap the benefits…"

"And what if the Emperor wins and we find ourselves on the wrong side of this fight?" Jennah retorted.

"I have Srilis planning for that possibility…" Kelrek replied, turning back to the screen, "Everything will be taken care of; no matter what outcome happens, we will be able to benefit, trust me."

They would be reaching the next checkpoint shortly, and while the officers knew the routine and where they were going next, it was still something that Kelrek wished to watch closely, in order to make sure that nothing happened.

When they arrived at the specific location, the navigation officer started plugging in the next location even before they left Hyperspace. Within minutes, they would turn the ship and activate Hyperspace once more, rocketing off to the next checkpoint.

Flawlessly executed, they returned to the blazing star lines as they continued on. It would be several more similar jumps that would be needed before they could round the core of the Galaxy and could travel straight to their destination.

Jennah finally walked away, and Kelrek breathed a small sigh of relief. The Marauder was growing rather insufferable with regards to the whole mission. Personally, he had every confidence that Diábolis would achieve victory in the end, even if there was a long drawn out battle, and that he would receive a great reward for aiding the Sith Apprentice in overthrowing his master.

The Emperor, for all the glory and power, had passed his prime as far as the Sorcerer was concerned. The Empire needed fresh leadership for a new direction and new growth if they were to solidify their control over the Galaxy, and whatever else they chose to set their sights on afterward.

Kelrek wasn't certain what Diábolis had planned to be sure, but he was certain of what the Emperor wished to do, as he had chosen to be secluded for years in his own palace, surrounded by Holocrons and other texts. As a Sorcerer in his own right, and having touched some of the darker aspects of the Force, Kelrek was well aware that the Emperor likely sought the true achievement of dominating the Force completely through his use of the Dark Side.

The problem with that; however, was that Kelrek was certain that the Emperor had already consumed all the information that the ancients had to give regarding the mysteries of the Force, and had given none of this to his lesser servants. Whatever the Emperor thought to achieve, it was either so arcane that it was beyond the reach of the Force, or else it was something that would devastate the Galaxy completely and therefore needed to be stopped.

When Diábolis took command, there would need to be a great reordering of the collection of knowledge in that palace, and who better to do so than Kelrek? And in the process of sorting through all that knowledge, it would make sense for the Sorcerer to learn a great deal of things regarding the nature of the Dark Side, and grow powerful himself.

Jennah and Srilis might have their doubts, but for the goals that Kelrek had, he needed this plot to succeed, and if the Emperor was distracted with some other group that thought to wrest control from his Majesty in a direct confrontation, then all the better for those operating in the shadows.

They needed to find a weapon they preyed on some weakness of the Emperor, and if Diábolis thought that he had found something, then Kelrek would do what was needed to aid the Devaronian in collecting it, so that the Sith Lord knew who among all the Dark Adepts in the Empire supported him in his hour of need.

Quickly, he plotted out the rest of their jumps to their location, knowing that it would take time to get where they needed to go, but he had picked the swiftest route, now that he knew that they had a perfect distraction in the Emperor's wrath falling upon others.

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Veneficus gloried in his power over the fool of a Supreme Prophet. Holding the man hostage on his own ship, surrounded by fools that would not think or act on their own, while ship after ship of his allies arrived into their own deathtrap was simply amusing to witness.

Over the course of this massacre, Veneficus was unwilling to acknowledge that it was even close to a battle, he spotted the flagships of several other High Prophets, and was disappointed that so many had fallen for the foolish lies that Feyd had spread through the Empire about his ascendancy and the lack of power that the Sith Master held.

He took great pleasure in eliminating these traitors, and noted the empty slots that would eventually need to be filled in his Dark Council. With the number he had to slay, along with those that had specific positions for his own reasons, he knew that choices for a new Supreme Prophet to take over after Veneficus disposed of Feyd would be slim.

He had already considered Zhar for the position, and he was the only acceptable option, and more to the irony that the man wanted to leave the role that he had taken up so long ago. Yes, Veneficus decided as he personally crushed another ship with the Force, he would put the resistant man in power, and keep him close to the throne of Veneficus, preventing him from working well on his escape plans.

Granted, Veneficus would bet a great deal that this would not stop the man from his design, and that his apprentice would take up more responsibility regarding this… but it would be greatly slowed from actually discovering anything, which would allow Veneficus to focus on other threats to his power.

Soon enough the flow of ships slowed and eventually stopped altogether. Either the fools had finally learned that it was a trap to come to the aid of the Supreme Prophet, or else he had run out of allies that would follow his every command.

"So, it seems that all your supposed friends and allies are gone…" Veneficus said to the air, allowing the Force to transport his thoughts directly to his victim. "And now all that leaves is you between me and peace in the Galaxy…"

Pressing a button to open a channel to the bridge, Veneficus gave his orders. "I want landing forces to go down and secure the planet once more, we are done here."

"Yes, my Emperor!" the admiral in charge replied.

Gathering the Force to him, Veneficus took command of the entire ship that Supreme Prophet Feyd was in. "Goodbye, apprentice of Dass'in… you are a lesser student of a greater teacher…"

Clasping his hands together, the Sith Lord allowed the ship to be crushed completed, leaving it a wreck in space, and all within more than dead.

"So, it is finished…" Darth Bane said, appearing from behind the Sith Emperor.

"Yes… all these traitors are dead or too cowardly to stand up to me…" Veneficus replied, taking a seat on his throne in his personal chamber. Suddenly he was very tired, and the small tremors in his hands were testimony of how much Force energy he had used in a short amount of time.

"Take your Elixir, apprentice…" Millennial said, appearing as well.

"I don't need you to tell me what I need to do," Veneficus snarled, already pulling the flask out in his shaking hands. He still had strength enough to get the liquid to his lips and settle his failing body once more.

"You cannot allow such a momentous event to happen again," Bane added, watching with his judgmental eyes, "the amount of power you used rocked the Force throughout the Galaxy, and I can see that it accelerated your degeneration."

"Yes, I can see that, and I will be more vigilant to prevent such a large rebellion from happening again." Veneficus said, too tired to try and banish the spirits of the ancient Sith Lords that appeared to attempt and persuade him one way or another.

"You need not deal with this level of pain and torment…" Naga Sadow informed him. "The power is already in you to acquire a new, more youthful body…"

"Even if I was to do that, it would be a temporary solution at best…" Veneficus argued, tired of the same idea being given to him over and over. "Essence Transference would only work on the most perfect candidate, and even then my glorious power might still kill anyone not already a house for immense Dark Side power."

"We just wish to remind you that it is an option, and you could start on that plan, forming a new body through alchemy or else grooming the perfect candidate for possession." Millennial added.

"Yes, and I heard you before." Veneficus snapped back, hating hearing the voice of his old master being so lecturing, as though the man truly cared about him and not the power that Veneficus represented.

"I will find a better way, even if I have to have the Philosopher's Stone implanted into myself to have a continuous flow of Elixir into my very blood!" he raged, having previously considered just that previously. Granted the complications that could happen with that were great, but the risk to his life was still less than attempting Essence Transfer.

"Regardless of your choice, it would be wisest to withdrawn, summon your new pawn and set him in power, then return to the core of the Galaxy and search for answers that you have not yet discovered." Bane finally conceded.

It was the wisest thing that the spirits had to say at this present moment, and Veneficus was eager to do just that. However, there was one final matter regarding the previous Supreme Prophet that Veneficus had to see to before he returned Zhar from his hiding.

Activating a line of communication down to the planet, a young officer answered, before visibly paling to find the Emperor on the other end. "Your Majesty, it is an honor…" the young man stammered.

"Of course it is…" Veneficus said, moving along to his command, "there are forces coming down from my ship now, meet them and bring them to Supreme Prophet Feyd's apprentice. I demand his presence aboard my ship within the hour, or there will be suffering and to spare."

"As you command, your Majesty!" the man replied hastily, almost sprinting to fulfill the order, and forgetting to even shut off the communication.

Cutting the line himself, Veneficus smirked. Once the last tie to Feyd was eliminated, Zhar could assume command of both systems, and begin piecing together the core of the Empire once more, and Veneficus himself could go back to the peaceful research for immortality through the massive collection he possessed.

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Hermione had to admit that she was both intrigued and concerned about the appearance of such a powerful item as a Seer's Stone in their possession. She trusted it in Professor Snape's hands above anyone else, simply because of the sheer knowledge that the man had regarding anything potentially dark.

But to plan what they might actually use the item for, Ist was right to call for all three of them. Hermione, Severus, and Filius Flitwick would need to debate and weigh every matter before calling upon the power of the stone to show them a possible route toward a certifiable victory over the Empire.

Hermione was well aware that there would be disastrous consequences if they simply followed the stone in every matter. They would be led to do terrible things that would make them as evil as the Emperor. The danger was how clear and simple such an item would show them the route, and if they believed that there was no other option to take.

If left to herself, Hermione wasn't sure if she had the willpower to resist such an end, recalling how easily she was twisted and fooled by the Emperor even as he tore his way through the Galaxy, burning and destroying systems with her own technology.

Arriving back in _Sanctuary_ , they quickly sent out the others that had come with them to gather more materials for the Bakura base, and set off for Severus' potion lab.

The man seemed to be waiting for them to arrive, as he froze the potion he was working on the moment they arrived, moved toward a secure wall safe, and produced from within the sparkling stone of their great concern.

"So this is it?" Hermione asked, stepping forward to gaze at the beautiful stone.

Filius waved his wand, sealing the door with powerful charms so that they would not be disturbed, and joined them around the item.

"So, now we have to decide how best we might proceed toward defeating the Emperor, and if or how this stone will aid us to do that." Hermione stated.

"Having done some blanket tests on the stone," Severus reported, "I can attest that is it genuine, and will do exactly as we have been told it functions."

"Meanwhile," Filius added, "I composed a list of topics that we could discuss and weigh upon whether we look into the stone regarding."

Hermione was surprised. She had been too busy trying to prepare herself for the trial that might come by looking into the stone that she hadn't even thought of how to make the process simpler. Smiling to herself, she recognized that even now, long after she had left their direct tutelage, the two Professors were still teaching her through their example.

"Then let us begin this process…" Severus suggested, cupping his hands underneath the stone, allowing the lights overhead to reflect off the surface of the gem.

"First option to discuss…" Filius started, "How can we proceed to weaken the Imperial Navy, and halt the production of the Sith Empire's forces?"

"We have no idea where their factories are even held," Hermione said, stating the information that they already knew, "even during the war the Empire had ships come from some unknown location in mass, and using stolen technology made by me crafted devastating weapons to utilize at strategic moments in the war to crush the Republic."

"And even in this case the tide of ships, while slowed, still continues to come forth from some location unknown." Severus added.

"So that is what we shall ask: the location of these secret factories of the Empire's ships, and how we might strike at them." Filius summarized.

"I can agree to that," Severus added, and Hermione nodded.

Together, the three of them leaned in and looked deeply into the stone, watching as the gem started to turn translucent and display the vastness of space. Before their eyes coordinates filtered into their minds and Hermione felt the sensation of magic that she was very familiar with wash over her.

"A Fidelius Charm covers their factory…" she stated.

"And now we know where it is located. But how shall we destroy it?" Filius asked.

"We'd need to disable the charm to be able to land on the station…" Hermione said, her brain already launching into forming a plan, "Once we do that, it should be down to the same manner of sabotaging any station or ship. We plant explosives in the vital locations and detonate them."

"Of course, we do not know what we expect to find once the charm drops. But we could mobilize our entire fleet to attack it once an all-clear signal was sent, and then there would be a possibility of scanning it for a weakness." Filius added, striking directly on the main concern that Hermione had held even while she spoke her mind.

"I doubt that even the stone can pierce the charm and show us that we're facing, but destroying that would be a giant step toward crippling the ability of the Empire to overwhelm and crush us…" Severus added.

"Then, instead of diving further into using the stone, we should work toward accomplishing this first point, and eliminate this hidden factory." Hermione decided, "I'll devote all to my time to creating a complete plan to infiltrate and destroy it."

"We'll need to include the help of the Jedi," Filius added, "If this location is so important to the Emperor that he used magic to conceal it, there will be heavy protection within that we will need to delay or defeat in order to succeed."

"I agree, and will factor that in accordingly," Hermione replied, nodding. "I trust you will inform those who need to know when you take our engineers back to Bakura with more supplies and some specialized equipment." Hermione knew that this had to be done in order to reduce their dependency on shipping between the two secret bases. The fewer ships that they had moving in open space between the two locations, the safer they'd be from discovery.

Filius agreed, and departed. After seeing that Severus locked up the Seer's stone once again, Hermione followed, heading up to her office and laboratory. She was already abuzz with ideas of what they could do to try and infiltrate the station, but each and every one was dangerous. They would need one of the three most powerful Mage-born to go, in order to disable the charm. Several Jedi would be needful in case of any Dark Adepts aboard whatever facility was hidden therein, as well as demolition experts to carry and set the explosives to destroy the facility.

Making a few selective calls to those allies she knew of nearer to the coordinates, she sent out scouts to spy on the location, and see what sort of ships went to or from that location, and if they could board one secretly to get their team inside.

The only pause she took that entire day was to turn and watch out the large window of her office as the ship they had come on, now carrying only Filius and their engineers, departed back into the sky, heading back to Bakura to carry information of their plan to those who needed to be in the know as they finalized their plans.

With some luck, a few of the commanders and other might have an idea or two to send back via holocommunication, but until then, she would pour out her mind into solving the riddle of how to get their team on that unknown station or ship hidden within the powerful charm.

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Diábolis wasn't sure how much he could trust the Marauder Fury, or the rest of the man's loyal followers, but he had little choice with the man residing on the Sith Lord's ship than to include him to a degree within his plans. It was likely that the man was too loyal to the Emperor and would have to be eliminated, but the Devaronian would burn that bridge when the time came and no sooner.

Personally, he held little respect for those that served his master without questioning their station or the fact that they were handicapped when it came to their knowledge of the Force. This was why he was willing to work closely with Sorcerer Kelrek, as the man was already delving into secrets that the Emperor would punish with death for the lesser servants to even be aware of, let alone learn on their own.

Diábolis on the other hand had different ideas, as it allowed him to warp the minds of many to his side and away from blindly following Veneficus. And if it all tied together for him getting his hands on the artifact or weapon that the Star Map was directing him to, and therefore a step closer to overcoming his master and taking command of the Galaxy for himself, then it would be worth it.

Until he received the call to slip away and get to the northern location however, he had ample time to plot out what else was needed to overthrow the madman who had single handedly torn down the Republic and set himself in its place as Emperor.

From what reports he had, and collaborating with his own knowledge regarding his master, it was clear that the man had pacted himself to the spirits of ancient Sith Lords, siphoning their power in exchange for tying them to the physical world. A powerful technique of the Dark Side, and one not easily broken, except for what report he had discovered regarding whatever item he was seeking through the intervention of the Trio.

Apart from that, the man was also a powerful Mage-born on top of his already terrifying skills in the Force and with lightsaber combat. That magic, which was something that Diábolis was familiar with fighting against, was something he hoped to find a way to weaken or neutralize before the final confrontation, as otherwise he would stand at a huge disadvantage.

Diábolis had witnessed recordings from within the Palace as Veneficus fought with intruders on multiple occasions, and the man's ability to merge the Force with his personal magic abilities was both frightening and devastatingly effective. The Devaronian knew that he would have to be at the top of his skills to even pose a challenge to his master, but the presence of that reserve of personal magic would make any contest impossible.

However, he had sources within the rebellion that told him of a secret weapon that they were developing that might work to Diábolis' advantage in crippling the magic of his Master, leaving only his skill in the Force and with the blade. That, while still not completely in the apprentice's advantage, was a fight that was capable of being won, and until more options opened up, was what Diábolis was hoping to work toward in order to overthrow his master and take up the mantle of rule himself.

With all that he had set in motion, it wouldn't be much longer now, and all the pieces required for his grand sweep of the board would be in place. He just had to bide his time a little longer, and then he would be able to drop all pretense of servitude to the man who destroyed what little happiness had once existed in the Devaronian's life.

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Zhar expected the holocall to come in ever since the explosion of Force energy rocked through the Galaxy. Still, the fact that it came at all heralded the weight of pressure that was about to descend upon his shoulders.

"Lord Zhar, arise…" Veneficus commanded as the communication was answered.

"Yes, my Emperor," he replied, standing and stepping closer to hear the commands of the madman that ruled the vast majority of the known Galaxy.

"Supreme Prophet Feyd and his band of traitors are no more…" Veneficus reported, and inwardly Zhar winced at the level of sadistic pleasure that went unsaid behind the words. The fates of those poor beings much have been particularly brutal for the Emperor to actually be smiling as he said it.

"The last remnants are trapped upon your world of Korriban, awaiting your decision about their final fate. The rule of the Dark Council is yours. I trust that you will make smarter decisions than you predecessor, Supreme Prophet Zhar…"

"I will, your Majesty…" Zhar replied, as there was no other acceptable answer.

"You first duty is to rebuild the Dark Council as soon as feasibly possible," Veneficus commanded.

"Until that task is complete, I request the right to acquire a second apprentice, to manage the chaos that will be left in the wake of Feyd's death, as well as the right to spread rule of the remaining core Imperial planets among those loyal." Zhar replied, just as he had planned with Euka.

The Emperor didn't even bother it a second thought, "Permission granted, but you will be reassigned primarily to Dromund Kaas, and a new High Prophet for Korriban will be selected."

"As you wish, my Lord," Zhar submitted, knowing that the man would not allow such a concession without a price.

"Then I suggest you get to work, Supreme Prophet, so that I might return to mine…" Veneficus said airily, and closed the communication.

Zhar remained motionless for several long moments, taking in all that had just transpired, mainly unspoken, both in inflection and through the Force.

"Did our plan work?" Euka said, emerging from the shadows, having needed to be away while the Emperor was present for the safety of their plan.

"I believe so, but we shall not act with too much haste." Zhar admonished her, "if we launch directly into our plan, it will be far too easy for the Emperor to just turn around and eliminate us in turn."

"Agreed, so I shall return to Korriban, send our things to Dromund Kaas, and seek out a suitable second apprentice for you?" she asked.

"Yes," Zhar answered, "leave immediately, I will sharter another shuttle to take me to Dromund Kaas and assert out dominion over the planet." The new Supreme Prophet was already turning his mind to ponder how best to achieve that particular feat. The majority of the Imperial capital had been well under the control of Feyd since the end of the war, and therefore would be highly opposed to anyone, especially the famed rival of their Supreme Prophet, suddenly taking over.

A show of force would likely be needed for the most stubborn of the resistors, and that would still spur on those more diehard loyalists toward Feyd's cause. Zhar could find himself locked down with silencing rebellion for months yet, preventing him from working toward restoring the Dark Council or anything else involved with his command from the Emperor.

And of course, during that time his apprentices would be forced to aid him in all things to the best of their ability. How unfortunate that that might take Euka far and wide, inevitable locating what they needed to abandoning this sinking Empire altogether and flee to parts of the Galaxy unknown, where they could just live as they chose, and now be bound to the madness of a man who sought to encompass all of space with his merciless control.

Zhar was almost willing to admit that joining the rebels might even be an option for them, if the fools and Jedi supporters would actually believe them and their desire to escape the Emperor, but it would be too much for them to wish for. They were on their own for the time being in this endeavor.

Hopefully, Euka had no trouble finding an excellent third member of their little troop. Granted, even if it was a loyal brute that sought nothing but glory they could be of use, brutalizing those foes publicly that would defy Zhar's outward rule, while Euka worked in the shadows for their true goal, then all the better. Trusting an entirely new person with all their secrets was still something that Zhar had great qualms about, but a standing fool that would do as he or she was commanded would suffice.

In the meantime, a quick signal for his personal shuttle to prepare for takeoff, and Zhar was on his way to Dromund Kaas, already thinking and plotting toward how he would enforce his rule over the planet, and what motivations he could employ to make sure that the transition was as smooth as possible.

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Filius returned quickly to Bakura for his portion of the mission to eliminate the secret Imperial facility in deep space. The Charms master knew that they would need to commission a great number of their ships for such an endeavor, and they could very easily lose many of the new followers if such a battle went poorly.

Therefore, in consulting with his military advisors, General Caldev Marlas and Commodore Michear Leehamm, on who would be most effective for their mission, they started the tedious process to narrow down who to recruit for their attack squad. Knowing that several Jedi would be needed for this expedition, Filius made sure to send word to Master Yoda to bring several of the most trusted knights to join them.

With Ms. Granger working on how they would break the Fidelious Charm, Filius had no timetable as of yet for when they would start this mission, but it would be more than useful to know exactly who they had on standby and have them on hand at any moment when they were given the green light.

Still, a quick list of hundreds was toned down to several groups of working squads that could operate well together with various skill sets. Calculations for supplies and fuel for shuttles and fighters were also compiled, and checked against their stockpiles, all of which returned well in the positive.

Still, Filius had his misgivings with using the Seer's Stone for their campaign against the Emperor. Wizarding fables had many a tale about the dangers of tampering with time, either future or past, and Filius was keenly aware that they were treading dangerously closer to that with their new prescient powers. The Emperor had already used a finely attuned level of foresight to conqueror the Galaxy, showcasing the exact devastation that one with too much knowledge could wreak.

Nevertheless, Filius wasn't so blind to presume that they would be able to confront such a madman without some advantages of their own in order to make up the difference that the Emperor had created for himself.

The process of forming their combat squads, and readying the supplies that would be needed for the assault took several days, and in the meantime Filius was recruited to help coordinate the missions of the many other new recruits were sent on, primarily going out into the Galaxy and rallying even more support to help overthrow the Empire.

Primary on their list was gathering building materials, which would allow the rebellion to construct more ships, and continue their weapon research with Magi-tech to try and find better means of countering the Empire's massive military structure.

They had started to gather a good deal of supplies through these methods before, but with the influx of members that the Empire were not fully aware were on their side, they hoped to be able to do much more. There were dangers with this aggressive of a move, especially with the sheer number of Dark Adepts that circulated through the Galaxy, ever on the hunt for the rebellion's agents, but they had sufficient training to know what they could do in the event that they were discovered.

Filius had had a hand in creating the program for this training, including the emphasis in making sure that one was not discovered in the first place, and not taking unneeded risks above all else. The Charms Master and expert duelist was well aware that many of their people would not be capable of committing everything in their power to the rebel's cause, and he was not willing to force them to do so, especially if they had families or other beings dear to them that could be used against them by the Empire.

Many chose to ignore this training however, and each report of an operative and their families being eliminated stung Filius to the very core. Therefore, he strove to make sure that everyone in their organization knew for a fact that they would not be held accountable if they decided to back off from accepting a mission because of the risk to their loved ones, and that the upper levels of the Rebellion were keenly aware that protecting loved ones took priority in their minds over the dangerous risks that were needed.

There had been a few that took them up on that offer in regards to the secret mission on the unknown facility, and their wishes were respected, their skills reassigned to safer, more clear missions. Filius wanted above anything that their members felt that they were in control of their lives in this movement, and that nothing was forced upon them in fighting against the Empire.

Of course, once accepted onto a mission and told the details, one could not back out afterward, and all of their operatives understood this clearly and were dedicated to fulfilling the mission to their full extent once they accepted to participate.

By the time they had therefore compiled their groups and prepped them for what they were planning to do, Filius received an encoded message from _Sanctuary_ , giving them the go ahead on their attack on the facility, as well as the ritual spell for disabling and stripping away the Fidelious Charm away from the location.

It was particularly complex, but Filius was confident that he would be able to do without too much problem. Only once that had occurred would they be able to sweep the facility and determine what weaknesses that they could find to destroy whatever it was laying beneath the powerful charm.

"Commander, what are our orders?" Commodore Leehamm asked.

"We head to the coordinates provided by Director Granger, and prepare for our assault of the secret Imperial factory." Filius affirmed to his naval commander.

"As you command, Sir…" the Commodore replied with a sharp salute. He immediately turned and started barking orders at their officers and engineers, calling for all shuttles to be secured and berthed in their ships and for the Hyperdrives to be prepared for activation.

Filius looked over the instructions for the ritual once more, a growing sense of peril washing over him as he thought about what they were about to attempt. Normally, striking an unknown location was an extremely foolish move. However, the rebellion was in a desperate spot, and they were unlikely to have a second attempt at this target.

It was simply now or never. Therefore Filius would start on the ritual now, and time it to be completed shortly after they exit Hyperspace at their coordinates. It seemed that it was a combination of a modified charm, as well as a simple potion that would work in tandem to shatter the spell.

The brilliance of the best student Hogwarts ever produced simply astounded Filius every time she accomplished something like this. If people had known about this sort of magic back in the wizarding war, things would have been far different.

Voldemort would never have been able to hide, but at the same time the Potters would have been significantly less secure. An entire chain reaction of cascading events all based on the laxness of the wizarding community and their refusal to think outside the prescribed rules of magic that had been held for ages.

With free reign to do as she pleased, Ms Granger had shattered almost all conventional limits of magic, and singlehanded took the magical world into an entirely new age, one that was subsequently crushed and burned by the horrors of the Sith Lord Veneficus, the single greatest traitor of their people, and a Dark Lord above and beyond any that had ever exsisted.

"For the Mage-born, I will strike this blow against you, Dark One," Filius said, drawing his wand and summoning from several small compartments the ingredients that he would need for the potion.

"And I pray that this first strike will mark the beginning of your downfall, come hell, high water, or our very deaths!" he chanted to himself, even as he commenced the ritual, the powerful magic starting to warp his speech and stance to something significantly more formal.

The rest of the command crew was used to occasionally seeing Filius use complex magic to aid them, and did not react. They already knew that to interrupt or distract their commander when he was in the midst of a spell was very dangerous, and worked in near silence around him.

Before he had to focus completely upon the spell and nothing else, Filius saw the stars blur around them, and registered blearily that they were now on their way to the future battle site.


	22. C21: Discoveries

**Thanks be to those that reviewed previous chapter! At this particular moment, I am writing the final epilogue of OAC, and indeed the Veneficus Trilogy as a whole. It's still a ways off before it will be posted however, so there will be plenty of story to go before we reach that point, but the story is just about completed at long last. ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty One**

 **Discoveries**

Euka took no time to delay her return to Korriban.

On one hand, she understood that their mission was of most importance, and she had a few candidates in mind for the best options to serve her master in his façade for the Emperor, but on the other she wished to see what damage to their world had occurred by the traitor Feyd and his barbaric apprentice.

From orbit at the least it looked relatively unchanged, but she did not trust that the pair of Dark Adepts with all their authority and vengeance in their hearts had not run through the hierarchy of the world and replaced all those who had been loyal to Zhar specifically.

Even still, there would be few that could challenge her skill in battle left on the planet, especially after the Emperor crushed all resistance. There were still the hulks of the annihilated ships in orbit, and the sheer show of power that the singular man of their Emperor left Euka shaken as she came in for her landing.

Those ships would linger for a long time as a reminder of just who it was that led their Empire, and that to turn on him was folly. The fact of this was echoed in the faces and demeanors of those that resided on the planet.

The amount of fear that tore across the planet was startling, and Euka knew that this would hinder the training of many new apprentices for a long time yet, as they would not wish to even attempt to match their power against any that held favor with that magnitude of strength.

It was almost as though the Emperor had ceased to be a mere mortal human and had transformed into some sort of devastating force of nature, indiscriminately crushing aside any that were stupid enough to stand against him.

The sentiment was near enough to the truth that Euka did nothing to ease or alleviate the debilitation that surrounded the city. Rather, she used it as part of her screening process, and now sought for any that were still fearlessly working toward their own goals.

Any fool too timid of the Emperor's strength would not serve then in any regard in escaping the grasp of the madman anyway.

Starting at the academy temple and working her way slowly outward, Euka simply observed, sweeping the Force for those that might fit the description that she sought. There were few, many the strong that were not intelligent enough to understand that anyone could be the next victim of the Emperor's wrath, or else those who were too confident in their own power to wish to be subjected to another's will.

Even worse were the loyalists, fanatics to the Emperor and his causes, who gloried in the thought that their world was so important to the Empire that their leader came in person to put down the treachery of Feyd and his forces. These Euka avoided at all costs, as they clearly were gearing toward a massive political takeover of the planet, swinging the entire system further into the control of the Emperor and undoing everything that Zhar and Euka had secretly been planning.

Still, she had not expected anyone to directly confront her while she skulked around to locate someone ideal for their purposes. On the third day of her searching, she was investigating those that were working in the Valley of the Dark Lords, when a familiar presence entered her mind.

"Well, well, the triumphant new apprentice of the Supreme Prophet has returned to her little backwater of a world… come to gloat?" the high accosting voice of Ekitc Batoi reached her ears, seconds before the activation of a lightsaber drew the attention of all present.

"Shouldn't you be fleeing from the Emperor's soldiers?" Euka asked, casually drawing her own weapon, wondering whether she would have the pleasure to end him before the Imperial guards arrived to take her rival.

Slowly circling each other for a few moments, Euka sized up the changes in her rival. Life here on Korriban clearly didn't agree with him. Apparently hiding in the rocks and desert from those who would capture him on the order of the Emperor had slowly worn on the privileged Mirialan, and the male had clearly lost weight and sleep from constantly being on the run.

"I had heard that you had returned, and even if it costs me my life at the hands of the Emperor, I will avenge my master of you and your traitorous Zhar…" Ekitc snarled, seeming more like a feral animal rather than the sophisticated Dark Adept that he once had been.

"How the mighty have fallen, I suppose…" Euka taunted back, activating her weapon as she sensed her rival edging toward attacking her. "One would have thought you of all would realize that strength is power, and your master was clearly lacking if he thought he could overthrow the Emperor…"

With a roar of rage, Ekitc charged, swinging his blade almost wildly in his anger. Euka was disappointed that their fated battle was going to be so one sided, and dodged to the side, not even bothering to score a hit on her rival, as he had already defeated herself.

"You are weak now…" Euka taunted, "I will not waste my time fighting you when you've already shattered what strength you had held before. Go run and hide in the desert Ekitc, and pray that the Emperor's forces do not find you, as they will not be nearly as merciful as me."

She started to walk away, but the Force warned her that the other former apprentice was not done trying to defeat her. "I demand satisfaction!" he roared, "Face me!"

Euka could already see the guards of the Emperor arriving, their crimson armor glinting in the overbearing sunlight of the tomb world. "I will not… you are beneath me now, and I refuse to lower myself to fighting you."

Ekitc screamed, but the guards already had him, and subdued him in little time, dragging the unconscious Mirialan away, likely to face his own death at the hands of the Emperor or one of his minions.

Euka did not care however, and focused herself on her task once more. But there was a small problem. Ekitc's challenge and attack on her had revealed her presence to a large portion of the dark adepts. And it was sure to spread like wildfire throughout the planet that the apprentice of the new Supreme Prophet, their former High Prophet, was on world.

She wouldn't be surprised if they thought that she was seeking her own apprentice in order to rise to power as the new High Prophet of Korriban, which while she thought about it, could be useful to her in seeking out the select being that she sought.

Therefore, with all eyes on her, Euka abandoned her search in the field and returned to her small speeder, making a direct line for the academy, where she planned to wait for individuals to muster the courage to approach her directly.

The guards of the academy saluted her as she arrived, and momentarily she wondered if the rumor had spread faster than even her speeder. Taking up her own seat in the High Prophet's office in the academy, she waited some time for realization to hit those in the building.

It was a surprisingly short time before someone came to see for themselves if she was there.

"My Lady, we are pleased for your presence," the human said, bowing as though Euka was indeed the High Prophet. "I suppose that the organization of the Dark Council has begun to shift?"

Euka did not reply, as she knew that lying outright would be significantly worse than saying nothing at all.

"But of course, who am I to question one of the Dark Council…" the man said after a moment, nerves taking control of his voice. "I suppose you are here to seek an apprentice…"

"I am," Euka said half truthfully, as she did seek an apprentice, but not for her.

"I shall start the trials for those who are ready, and start bringing the paperwork to you for review." The man said, backing away as his fear grew.

He departed quite swiftly after that, and Euka smirked. The fool was likely spreading the word that she was not High Prophet of Korriban, and from here the news would spread far quicker than out in the Valley of the Dark Lords.

Leaning back in the throne, she relaxed for a time, allowing her mind to wander in the Force. This particular deception might backfire on her, but if she found one worthy to assist with their escape plan from the terror and madness that had enveloped the Empire, then it would be worth it.

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Diábolis had to exert effort to keep the smirk from playing across his lips as the desired signal finally came. He was also surprised to learn that the ancient map's coordinates were actually a well known planet, although since the Great Hyperspace War it had fallen into ruin and primitive cultures: Ossus, the planet of the once great Jedi Library.

It made perfect sense to Diábolis, not only would he be able to contend that the rebels would go there, attempting to find what knowledge may yet remain in the deserted place, but at the same time the Jedi would have had some sort of weapon or knowledge from that time that could potentially be used to help defeat Veneficus.

Setting the course for the planet immediately, Diábolis started to search out what research on the planet, finding minimal amounts. It was likely that as a Jedi planet, the Empire had blotted out all that they could regarding it, and if there was anything that Veneficus didn't want anyone to find there, all the more reason that little would be available.

Even his personal clearance added little, aside from the backstory as the planet was destroyed by Exar Kun, which was little more than basic knowledge for a Sith. Therefore, he contented himself to just have to wait and see what he may find here, and whether there was anything worthy of his time and talents to procure.

It took little more than a day for them to travel to the system in question, and by the time they arrived, Diábolis was more than eager to get his feet on solid earth and see what there was to discover. The problem was making sure that all aboard his ship that may be spies of the Emperor did not grow suspicious of his motives.

Striding onto the bridge therefore, and with holocommunications open to the ship of the Adept Trio, Diábolis laid out his grand plan. "Admirals, I want both ships to start orbiting the planet in opposite directions, scanning for every sign of life on this disgusting little rock," he started. "Once you locate them, Lord Fury and his forces will be sent in to crush the rebels, or whatever potential allies that they might be trying to recruit."

Looking toward the lead Marauder, Diábolis saw the small nod from the other man. He was not pleased with his lot, as Fury knew full well that there were no rebels on the planet, but he was there to make a distraction large enough for whomever might be watching for the Emperor to focus on instead of what Diábolis himself was doing.

"You will be supported by Jenah and Srilis, and battalions of their forces as well," Diábolis added, turning to the hologram of the Dark Trio, locking eyes with the Sorcerer, "Meanwhile, Kelrek and myself will take another group and investigate the ruins of the Jedi Library. It is very likely that the rebels are there, with Jedi, trying to find some scrap of information."

His eyes swept the whole of his command staff for this mission as he paused for a moment, "When you are finished with their allies, you will converge on our location outside the Library, and we will make sure that none of them escape."

"Yes, my Lord," the officers and military personnel chanted, while the Dark Adepts merely inclined their heads in submission.

"I and Kelrek will go immediately, while the rest of you perform your duties," Diábolis said finally, and dismissed them all to their stations, turning himself from the bridge and starting for his shuttle.

"You know I'd prefer to join you in the Library," Fury said, walking up beside the Sith Apprentice and following in his wake as they moved through the small surge of troopers and officers that were departing from the meeting.

"Yes, I know you would," Diábolis replied, sensing a bit of that real reason that the Marauder truly wanted to keep his eyes on the Devaronian. There was no trust between them, and it was clear that the mained man would rather throw his lot in with the Emperor than with Diábolis. In a small way, the Devaronian couldn't fault the human, it seemed like a mad plan to try and fight against the Emperor, with how much power the man cast about with all the ease of swatting a fly.

But Fury had not seen what Diábolis had seen, the fatal flaws that were growing plainer by the day with his Master, and the very real need for a change of leadership in the heart of the Empire. If Diábolis failed, who knew if the Sith Order would survive? It was equally likely that Veneficus would just persist, until his time and body finally failed him, and lacking any heritage for the future, all the collective knowledge and power of the Dark Side would be lost forever.

That was something that Diábolis could not allow. He would rather see the Empire crumble and start again from the dust than allow everything he had be put through avail nothing. And perhaps in time Fury, and all the others, would see things his way, when he finally stood over the fallen form of his Master victorious.

But first, he needed to find whatever manner of wisdom still lingered within this place. The slightest twitch of the Force told him he was on the right path, and that pushed him onward, taking to his shuttle and departing from Fury. The cold vacuum of space enveloped the ship, and from the other cruiser he saw a second shuttle also launch, bearing Kelrek and his force down to the planet.

They would land as close to the Library as they could, and make all speed toward it, searching for anything that might be of use in their fight against the Emperor. The atmosphere was thick with smoke and vapor, and despite knowing that the air would be more than breathable, Diábolis momentarily though about holding his breath.

The land had been devastated in the Great Hyperspace War, the nearby sun, Cron, being forced to go supernova and charring the once green and fertile planet forever. The arid wasteland before them was about as inviting as the deserts of Korriban, but Diábolis had learned long ago to never allow first impressions cloud his judgment of a location.

They landed, not as close as he would have enjoyed, but well within walking distance. The only potential problem that Diábolis sensed was a great deal of sentient, and Force-sensitive, life barring the way into the Jedi Library.

"Fan out and secure the area," he ordered the troopers and other acolytes that he had hand selected for their loyalty. Descending the ramp to the dusty ground, Diábolis looked to the other shuttle, nodding as he noticed the other platoon of troops fanning out to support his forces.

Kelrek approached, "So, there seems to already be some form of life scurrying around this place. Where do you suspect we will find what you seek?" he asked.

"Somewhere hidden inside that ruin," Diábolis replied honestly, "Hopefully not tucked away in some chamber deep down in the crumbling foundation."

It was clear that the building was extremely dangerous, and Diábolis was already planning that only he and Kelrek would actually set foot within the structure. Any more than those two powerful Force users, and he felt confident that parts of the building would crumble beneath their feet outright.

"Let's go," he said, leading the way in the most direct route toward the entrance of the Jedi Library. Scaling the ridge that they had landed beneath was child's play for the two Force users. Once they mounted that rocky barrier however, Diábolis was convinced that there were many eyes upon them.

"Odd, isn't it?" Kelrek mentioned as they continued toward the Library, "that there are so many Force users here, but not a one has dared to approach us as of yet…"

"They seem primitive," Diábolis reasoned, "possibly descendants of some survivors of the cataclysm on this world, having lost all civilization due to the supernova and all but lost to the rest of the Galaxy."

They arrived at the entrance of the Library. All seemed deserted, but the two intruders knew better. There were enemies all around them, watching their every move, and waiting to see if they would leave or continue on.

As they had no such intentions on departing, Diábolis prepared himself, casually removing his lightsaber twinblade and keeping his eyes alert for when the first opponent would make their appearance.

Just before they reached the steps leading up to the cracked and heavily damaged front entrance it finally happened. The entire front entrance suddenly was crowded with dozens of beings, their faces shrouded by actual Sith warrior masks from the Great Hyperspace era.

"You shall go no further!" the lead figure demanded, holding out a hand as though to physically hinder them, "these sacred grounds are not for you!"

Exchanging a momentary glance with Kelrek, Diábolis nodded. His permission given, the Sorcerer stepped forward once more, allowing Dark Side Lightning to leap from his fingers, showering over several of the guards on either side of the lead figure.

"We are more powerful than you could possibly imagine, and we will enter regardless of your wishes…" Diábolis replied coolly, even as the other figures visible flinched and withdrew a few steps as several of their fellows dropped dead from the sudden electrification.

Instead of fully scattering however, it seemed that the figures were steeling themselves for a drawn out fight, spears and other primitive weapons being brandished.

Sighing to himself, as he would have rather entered without a fight, Diábolis allowed his weapon to activate, quickly followed by the saber of Kelrek. While the Sith Lord was aware of the ancient design that the Sorcerer used, it was still interesting to look at the odd little cross guards, completely useless practically but more than effective as terrifying devices as the human swung the saber casually in a circle, letting the sound of the saber pick up to a loud whirring.

Darting forward and taking the initiative, Diábolis impaled the leader through the chest, before forcefully flinging the man away. The others attempted to react, utilizing the Force to throw a dozen small telekinetic blasts at the Sith Lord, which amounted to very little.

Lightning poured forth from Kelrek's free hand, annihilating half of the remaining guards, while Diábolis carved through the others, unleashing his rage and power in deadly and overwhelming strokes of the saber.

Soon enough the way was finally clear of opponents. Surprisingly, Diábolis did not sense any more inside the building itself, although if he cared to recall what the leader had said at the onset, they regarded the ruins as some sort of Holy place and likely did not enter it often, if at all.

Scooping up one of the ancient Sith masks, which had fallen from the face of the leader, Diábolis examined it. It was of excellent quality, and quite authentic. Likely it was plundered from within, but there was another reason that he procured this particular item.

Reaching out with the Force, he could use the mask to lead him to where it once resided within the Library, and hopefully there were other relics within that had remained, likely hidden away by the Jedi of old and therefore out of reach of these primitives.

He could sense that there were many, many more of them out on the outskirts of the area surrounding the temple, and Fury's forces would have encountered some of them already. That would keep the other occupied while he and Kelrek ventured within the Library for whatever it was that he sought.

"Let's move onward, and I doubt we'll need our weapons for the time being," Diábolis advised Kelrek, sheathing his own blades and stepping inside the crumbling building.

The entryway seemed more or less intact, the stones somewhat cracked and scarred from what seemed to be a heavy battle between lightsaber wielders, but many of the chambers and corridors beyond it were completely blocked, the floors above having collapsed down onto them.

Of the few passages that remained, one looked too unstable to even attempt to traverse, while another two others were small chambers that were stripped of all artifacts or knowledge that had been stored within. Negating all of those, there was one viable pathway ahead, which seemed to lead to the main floor of the library itself.

Diábolis did not expect to find anything there, but he proceeded onward regardless, hoping that there would be side passages that might navigate around the collapses and lead to deeper and better secured vaults.

Passing into the vaulted room that once held hundreds of thousands of ancient scrolls and artifacts that they Jedi had collected, there was a sense of reverence that came over Diábolis through the Force. This place had a magnificence behind it that resonated even with those who wielded the Dark Side and hated the builders of the same structure.

As he had suspected, many more of the off shooting passages from the main hall were still intact and led in varied directions throughout the structure. Granted, determining which route to take was now the challenge.

They did not have the time that Diábolis would have wished to fully explore the bowels of the Library. If they took too long they would have his forces, and specifically those who were spying on him for the Emperor asking pointed questions.

Therefore, they needed to find a swift route through the Library and locate whatever was left that the Force had directed Diábolis here to find. To that end, the Sith Lord was forced to halt in the main chamber and relax himself into the Force, seeking out the path that they needed to go in order to find what he sought.

Letting the energies of the library swallow his senses, the Devaronian Sith felt his consciousness flood through the building, following a distant well of powerful Force energy. Whatever this source of power was, it was ancient, far older than anything Diábolis had ever encountered before of that magnitude of strength in the Force.

Opening his eyes after several moments, he now knew the exact route that they had to take, and quickly strode to the rearmost right hand corridor. The corridor beyond was weakened, several of the pillars and other supports showing distinct strain from the weight of the floors above, but the two Force adepts were able to pass quickly through without incident.

"This way," he told Kelrek, and led the way past several intersections and down a flight of old fashioned stairs into the deeper levels of the Library.

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Yoda watched as their fleet came out of Hyperspace into a seemingly empty section of space. Even in the Force he could sense nothing for light years in all directions, but according to the information that the Director Granger and the other leaders of the rebellion had acquired, these were the coordinates of the secret, hidden Imperial factory.

Filius Flitwick was already in the midst of a ritual spell, which once completed was supposed to break through the enchantment that kept the place hidden and reveal their target to them. Yoda had it on good advice that there would be a strong resistance to their attack, and that was why he, Ist, and many other of the Jedi from Hoth and Bakura had come to lend their aid in removing this powerful location from the Emperor's grip.

There was a pulse of power from the main ship, where Commander Flitwick was leading the strike, and through the Force Yoda felt a wave of mutated Force energy waft outward, harmlessly passing through the fleet and into open space.

For several moments it seemed as though there would be no reaction, but in due time there was a massive explosion of Force energy washing over Yoda's senses as something that was not there suddenly blossomed into life. Like a massive curtain dropped from in front of it, the space station came into view, seeming to feed off the nearby solar body like a parasite.

Yoda froze, not sure if he could believe what he was seeing. The factory was familiar to him, and indeed would be familiar to every Jedi that had done their studies into the time of the Jedi Civil War between the end of the Great Hyperspace War and the much later Cold War when the Empire returned.

"It's not possible…" a Jedi near to Yoda breathed.

"The Star Forge…" Yoda said to himself, naming the facility before them.

Looming like a beacon in space, with a handful of cruisers hovering around it like small children, the ancient Rakatan facility. From what they had recorded regarding the time of Revan, the station was destroyed when the prodigal Jedi was redeemed and sabotaged the factory himself.

Where and how Veneficus had gotten a hold of another of these devastating factories Yoda did not know, but he simply couldn't be allowed to make use of it any longer.

"All ships," the voice of Commander Flitwick sounded over the battle channel that all ships were turned in to, "prepare to advance, shuttles prepare to launch."

"Time now it is," Yoda said solemnly, turning away from the viewport and preparing himself mentally for what was to come. This facility was rank with the taint of the Dark Side, and the likelihood that there wasn't any Dark Adepts overseeing the production was slim to none.

Their blades would be more than needed in order to secure a victory here, and Yoda was more than willing to lend what aid he could, now knowing for certain what they faced. Once they were ready and secured in the assault shuttles, Yoda felt the stirring of the Dark Side as the factory started to react to their presence and the fact that they were being detected.

"Launch!" the command came, and the shuttles lurched forward, blasted out of the larger ship and into open space, heading directly for the swarming mass of fighters that were starting to launch from the Star Forge.

It was stressful, and multiple times their shuttle rocked violently when it was directly hit by a stray shot as fighters from both factions started an intense dogfight around them, their own trying to prevent the Imperial fighters from directly targeting the shuttles.

"Were coming in upon the nearest hangar, prepare for a hit landing," the shuttle pilot shouted back, even as the shuttle made a hard turn toward the station, and pulled up in order for the landing gear to find purchase on the metal floor of the station.

Before the shuttle came into a complete stop Yoda was already on his feet, saber hilt in hand and ready for the boarding ramp to lower. The other rebel troopers prepped their weapons, and removed themselves from the strapped seats.

The ramp lowered, revealing the chaos of the hangar they had chosen. Imperial troopers were pouring in from the doors to the rest of the station, and the rebels seemed sorely outnumbered.

Even as the troopers around him surged forward to join the fray, Yoda activated his saber. That was the signal for the rest of the Jedi to attack. Out of the five assault shuttles that had taken to this particular hangar there were around half a dozen Jedi, and as one they leapt into the air.

Arcing over the firefight, Yoda deflected several shots as the Imperials adjusted to try and shoot down the Jedi before they landed among their lines. Twisting in the air, Yoda propelled himself forward further and collided with one trooper, saber impaling the man through the chestplate.

Ripping his blade out and deflecting another couple of shots, Yoda pushed off from the man's body and took to the ground, darting in and among the legs of the far taller figures, slashing at the legs of the enemy troopers and moving quickly toward the doors where more troops were entering.

The other Jedi held them at bay while Yoda sheathed his weapon, drawing the Force to him. Even as a massive war droid started to advance toward the door, Yoda pushed outward, throwing the droid backward and tearing up parts of the floors and walls down the corridor, making it far more difficult for the advancing forces to join those in the hangar already.

With their reinforcements cut off from the main route, the rest of the Imperials in the hangar were quickly mowed down by the Rebels and the Jedi, securing the hangar as a powerful entry point for more of their forces.

Yoda overheard the commanders of the trooper divisions sending word for more reinforcements to be sent from the cruisers to make sure that they held this position for as long as they needed it.

Meanwhile the other Jedi were being fitted with small squads to escort their demolition teams to the structural weak points, which had been scanned on the command ship while they were making their landing.

"Master Yoda," the commander said, turning his helmeted head to look at the Goblin, "We have a high priority target for you to hit, if you are willing to lead out commandos?"

"Prepared for this, I am," Yoda replied, already having an idea what he was about to be asked.

"There is a powerful Dark Side wielder on this station, who personally led a counter attack on one of our other landing points. We need this being eliminated to make sure we hold our tenuous grasp on the station." The man explained, and Yoda closed his eyes, reaching out to find this Force wielder.

At the very core of the facility, a great nexus of Dark Side energy was located, and it more or less dwarfed any other signature in the facility to almost nonexistence. Straining his sense however, Yoda could see the pinpricks of light and darkness moving through the facility. The largest of these was actually backtracking toward the powerful nexus, and regardless of their goal Yoda now could sense them and knew where they were going.

"Sense them, I can." Yoda announced when he was sure that he would be able to track the signature wherever it went in the facility.

"Excellent," the commander said, motioning for a group of heavily armed soldiers, "You all know your objective, Jedi Master Yoda will guide you through the facility and lead the attack on the threat to our presence here. Keep them busy as long as you can, eliminate the target if you can."

"Sir, yes sir!" the troopers replied, before starting out of the hangar toward the nearby corridor.

"Take care of my boys, Master Jedi," the commander requested, "break off and withdraw if you absolutely have to."

Yoda nodded, understanding that the man cared deeply for his subordinates, and wanted as many as possible to come home after this battle. Hurrying out past the troopers, who were waiting for him outside the hangar, Yoda started to follow the presence he had felt in the Force, only taking the briefest moment checking to make sure that the commandoes were following.

They moved swiftly and silently through the facility, acutely dodging the battles that were breaking out across the station and more and more rebel ground forces invaded the facility from multiple levels and hangars.

When they were within several turns of the massive Nexus of Dark Side energy, Yoda paused, halting at the end of a turn and slowly gazing around the corner.

A group of high ranking Imperial troops were there, guarding the next chamber beyond, wherein the Goblin Jedi could sense the massive energy source of the station, and the location of their target.

"Six there are," he said to the troopers behind him, "and a sealed blast door."

"Well handle them General," the squad leader said, nodding to his comrades, and together they started prepping explosive s and their weapons.

After mere moments, they threw themselves around the corner and opened fire, charging the long corridor to the door and providing the perfect distraction for Yoda to weave through their legs unseen by their foes. Hurling his blade with the aid of the Force, Yoda skewered the nearest enemy trooper, leaping up to retrieve his weapon and gain a momentary vantage point to block several blaster bolts from reaching the commandos as the Imperial fell.

Using the Force to propel himself into the air once more, Yoda allowed himself to embrace the Force and begin a long and complicated flurry of Ataru strikes, making his way toward the sealed door as the commandos lay down a suppressing fire on those that blocked their path, pinning them between themselves and the door.

Despite the ease in which they finally defeated those guards, Yoda had to give the troopers some small credit of skill. The rebels did not claim this entry unscathed, and even Yoda himself sported a few wounds from bolts shot at close quarters that he barely managed to maneuver away from vital locations on his small body.

The medic all but demanded to patch him up while the demolition expert started work on the door, layering it with enough to shatter the durasteel and send it all inward as shrapnel for whatever lay in wait on the other side.

With a shattering detonation, the door crumbled before them, and Yoda led the way into the innermost chamber of the Star Forge, saber aloft and lit in preparation for whatever they might find.

As the dust and metal fragments settled they looked around, searching for their target, and Yoda recognized from description where they were, and the realization of what was causing the massive nexus of Dark Side energy send chills down his spine.

Row after row of suspended animation chambers lined the room, each filled with figures of Jedi or Mage-Born thought captured or slain during the war. Many were so drained of their life force in order to power the station that they were little more than dried husks, incapable of surviving outside of the prison that was slowly killing them anyway.

And in the midst of all of this, a massive dark colored centaur waited, a lightsaber pike in hand and already pawing at the ground, ready to charge.

"Lord Veneficus will be pleased to learn of your death, Jedi Master Yoda…" the centaur said sinisterly, "long has he waited to add your saber to his collection of defeated foes."

Yoda unconsciously tightened his grip on the same blade. He knew that with whatever had happened with Luna now completed, the Emperor would turn his attention to the last remnants of his home world more fully, although the fact that the man had not foreseen their attack of this station betrayed his overconfidence in its secrecy and his power.

The fact that the centaur seemed irritated and frustrated betrayed that fact, although Yoda was sure that the being had already been in direct contact with the Emperor, and the madman was on his way with a supporting fleet to crush them, meaning that they had limited time to finish what they started and escape before the Emperor himself arrived.

"The stasis pods, destroy them you must to cripple the station. The centaur, deal with him I shall." Yoda ordered the commandos.

The squad leader nodded, and as one the commandos scattered, each running for cover in a different location of the room as Yoda stepped forward, his blade held in a high guard and waited for the centaur to make the first move.

The Darksider didn't wait long, as he clearly knew their intentions, and charged, saber held down like a lance, prepared to gore straight through the goblin Jedi Master. An easy enough attack to avoid and dodge, but Yoda kept his guard up, knowing the strength and dexterity of the creature he faced, and even as he dodged to the side his blade intercepted the counter swing that would have removed his head from his shoulders.

The centaur turned swiftly, leveling a powerful blast of telekinesis, which caught Yoda, only partially diverted by a hasty shield of energy from the gifted Force user. He still skidded backward several feet, and had to regain his footing properly in order to deflect the next barrage of attacks, as the Dark Side adept lunged in, hammering at him with heavy Djem So strikes.

It was a powerful combination, and a lesser Jedi might have crumbled before that onslaught, but Yoda had learned much from his time around Luna Lovegood, and his knowledge of Soresu was vast, allowing him to weather any attack that the centaur laid into him, dodging and tuning in a massive circle, looking for an opening to turn the tables and gain advantage to attack.

The moment came when the first pod detonated violently, causing the centaur to turn in rage and throw a blast of lightning at the commando that was there, which the man dodged. Yoda sprung into action, dropping all pretense of defense and going into a full tilt attack of Ataru, allowing the momentum of his swings and the Force lift him into the air.

The centaur cantered back a few steps, the oversized saberpike dancing swiftly to parry and block many of Yoda's strikes, even as a second and third pod ruptured.


	23. C22: Underlying Conspiracy

**Apologies for the minor delay, lots was happening on post day and I spaced whether I had posted or not until today. but the chapter is here now, so all is well. Enjoy, ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Two**

 **Underlying Conspiracy**

Kelrek felt privileged to witness the creative mind of Darth Diábolis, and the sheer mountain of Dark Side knowledge being put to the test in traversing the dangers of the crumbling Jedi Great Library.

As they carefully made their way to the lowest sections, multiple times the Sith Lord stopped Kelrek and prevented him from some unseen danger that even the limited foresight that the Sorcerer held had not seen. It was a humbling experience, and showed how much he had to learn.

As they arrived in the lowest level of the ruin, Kelrek smiled to himself. He had definitely chosen the better side in the coming war between the Sith. As they approached the only seemingly whole chamber left this far down into the ruins of the old Jedi facility, Kelrek could sense something waiting for them.

"I knew the Force did not lie to me," Diábolis said, growing excited as he reached forward, forcing the unpowered and rusted door to open.

The chamber was small; a nearly forgotten vault deep in the crumbling part of the ruin, and even still nearly stripped of all items. Slipping inside after the Devaronian, Kelrek examined what was left.

It was clear that whoever had cleared this chamber previous had done so under duress and in a great hurry, as there were scattered items everywhere, well-worn by age and layers of grime from sitting in some forgotten nook of the ruin. Most of the vaults were opened, their contents removed, but the largest at the back of the room was still sealed, with the appearance of scorch marks around the edges.

"Apparently someone attempted to plunder this room once before," Kelrek mentioned indicating this large vault.

"Yes, and failed…" Diábolis agreed, moving closer, and running a hand over the material of the vault, "and no wonder, its make of cortosis…"

Kelrek's eyes widened. Cortosis, the single most energy resistance material known in the galaxy was able to deflect even the burning power of a Lightsaber, something within the ore even working to disrupt the subtle Force aura around the crystals used in the construction of the weapon.

"I expect the entire vault to be made of the same, leaving only one course of action to get it open," the Sith Lord concluded, and stretched out a hand, concentrating. Kelrek sensed the power of the Dark Side working on the door of the vault in question, trying to pry it from its place.

The room quaked momentarily as the Sith did so however, and the pair of them stepped back carefully. "No wonder it was left…" Kelrek surmised, "It likely is holding up the rest of the room, and it'll all come crashing down if we tamper with it too much."

"I did not come this far to turn back now…"Diábolis stated angrily, exerting the Force once again, stronger than before.

The room started to shake, and Kelrek backed toward the entrance cautiously, before extending a hand to aid the Sith Lord in prying the vault open. The room trembled, and the vault started to give way, creaking and groaning in complaint as their telekinesis slowly warped the metal and broke the seals that held in together.

Amid the entire chamber quaking, and seams appearing along the floor, the vault finally broken, falling open and displaying the contents: a single metal sword that held a faint aura of Force energy.

Diábolis yanked the weapon from the inside of the vault quickly with the Force, and leapt back toward the entrance as the floor started to crumble beneath them.

Kelrek was surprised to find that a deep fissure lay beneath this chamber, and turned to sprint from the chamber, Diábolis hot on his heels. Retracing their steps swiftly, even as the entire lower level of the library started to fall into the abyss below.

The lift had not worked on their trip down, but using the Force they were able to leap from handhold to handhold and climb their way back up to the upper levels. There they felt safe enough to pause and rest from the mad dash through the lower levels.

Kelrek took deep breaths as he tried to calm his racing heart, but as he turned to look at the Sith Lord, he was surprised to see that the Devaronian was not even winded, but was closely studying the blade in his hand.

Kelrek could understand why, now that he himself was paying attention as well. The blade was perfectly preserved, despite being left for untold amount of time as it languished in the depths of this ruin, but also the aura of the blade had changed, now fluctuating with the strength of the Sith Lord who wielded it.

"What is it?" Kelrek asked, trying to wrap his mind around what his eyes were telling him.

Diábolis glanced at him, before smirking toothily, "It is the key to the future…" he said cryptically.

Kelrek had several guesses what the Sith Lord might have meant, but the Devaronian did not elaborate as he led the way back out of the ruin. Several of the scavenging natives were trying to collect the bodies of their dead at the entrance, but they scattered as Diábolis approached, Kelrek in the Sith's wake.

The shuttle was untouched, and once they returned Diábolis recalled the elite Imperial troopers, planning to make a withdrawal from the planet as quickly as possible. "This is Lord Diábolis to all Imperial forces," he said over a communication devise keyed to every commander planet-side. "We are done here, report for departure, I repeat, our mission here is completed, withdraw."

Closing the communication, Diábolis boarded the shuttle, and Kelrek followed.

Sealing themselves in a private chamber in the shuttle, the Sith Lord took from his robes the sword, and placed it on a sectioned off surface, where it reflected the light in a strange manner. "This weapon can do so much if used properly," Diábolis said, after checking for listening bugs with a small devise. "The Emperor does not allow many to know this information, but he has taken control of several Force apparitions, which increase his power exponentially."

Kelrek was silent, awed at the notion that not just one, but multiple Force ghosts could be bound to a single Force user. The Emperor must have been extremely powerful to achieve such power.

"This sword can sever those Force bonds," Diábolis explained, tapping the blade, his eyes flashing crimson. "Doing that will weaken the Emperor and it is likely that it will disorient him enough to land a fatal blow…"

"The only problem would be getting close enough to the Emperor to do so…" Kelrek pointed out, and Diábolis nodded.

"As luck would have it, I have a plan for that, but it will take time, and I need more of your cooperation. We need to capture one of the rebels that possess the power of the Mageborn…"

Kelrek was surprised, "A Mageborn? But I thought they were all but wiped out, any that are among the rebels will be strongly guarded."

"This is true," Diábolis replied, "I have a spy in their ranks however, who is supposed to cause enough of a distraction at the first opportunity that one aware of where to be might acquire one of them for me."

"I understand, my Lord," Kelrek responded, eager to be of further assistance to the future Emperor, "what will you have me do?"

"For now, do nothing. Proceed with whatever missions you are given among the Trio, but be ready to depart on your own for my cause at a moment's notice."

There was a rapping sound at the door, indicating that they had arrived at the cruiser, and Diábolis hid the weapon once more before going to the door. Kelrek covered his emotions as he too departed, knowing that secrecy was their only shield against the Emperor learning too soon of their plot.

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Zhar landed with little fanfare in New Kaas City, sweeping into the Imperial palace like a shadow. With most of the Dark Adept leadership on the planet now dead at the hands of the Emperor, there would be few there to oppose him installing himself inside the palace, but the problems were likely to come later, once the populace knew that the enemy of their leader was now in charge.

Reaching the council chamber without meeting any resistance, Zhar almost thought that none were left. All those thoughts were dashed when the doors opened, and all remaining eleven of the lower council of Dromund Kaas were revealed in their seats, discussing quietly among themselves, before turning to view him with disdain.

"You have a great deal of nerve to show your face here, Zhar Quelmok," Prophet Snarlfang said, the goblin's haughty expression looking quite formidable. The others seemed to be on much the same opinion, but Zhar couldn't care any less about their displeasure. Marching forward with his head held high, Zhar approached the seat of the High Prophet of Dromund Kaas, and Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, and sat to an audible gasp around the circle.

"You dare!" Snarlfang said, leaping to his feet and drawing the hilt of his Lightsaber Shoto, "you dare take the seat of Supreme Prophet Feyd!"

"Feyd is dead!" Zhar roared, silencing the gathering. Snarlfang froze, his eyes wide at the sudden explosion of rage in the Force that radiated from Zhar, and sat back down slowly in silence.

"Dead," Zhar repeated, "at the hands of the Emperor that he tried to betray… I have been singled out for the… glorious honor, of taking his place as ruler of Dromund Kaas and leader of the High Council, once reconstituted from the heavy losses from Feyd's faction."

All were silent, listening as Zhar said his piece regarding his appointment. Soon enough they asked their questions regarding details, and fell into a more natural discussion of what to do proceeding from the event.

Zhar was not fooled. These high-minded fools did not care for his presence any more than when he first arrived, and were even now plotting in their hearts to kill him, take his place, and rule the Empire themselves.

There was also no doubt in Zhar's mind that they didn't stand a chance against him, unless they acted as one cohesive unit, which was highly unlikely. No, there would be the rebellions that he had expected to come, and these eleven others would be the ringleaders, if he was able to prove the connection.

But what they lacked in strength in the Force, the eleven lesser prophets of Dromund Kaas had ample amounts of cunning, patience, and influence in the city. Zhar would have his work cut out for him until Euka returned with his second apprentice, who would take on the brunt of these problems, leaving the new Supreme Prophet and his apprentice to further their own goals unmolested.

Sitting through the irritating meeting of doubletalk and veiled threats, Zhar wasn't sure how he survived not taking up his saber and killing the lot of them immediately.

Still, once they all departed from his sight, he was able to travel down to the massive achieve of the Imperial Palace, which held significantly more records and texts than the one on Korriban. It would take a great deal of time to sort through what there was that was new versus what was already looked through on the tomb-world.

Still, with his new authority, Zhar could take whatever he wanted from the archive here and view it at his leisure, which would be far easier than lingering around constantly like he was forced to on Korriban. Even High Prophets had had their limits.

Choosing a selection, Zhar had them sent to the Supreme Prophet's quarters, and made his way there, wondering what articles were left by his predecessor that he would find.

The space was not as grand as he suspected it would be, but judging from the only other two Supreme Prophets, it shouldn't have surprised him. Dass'in was more of a mystic than anything else, and would not have clung to material possessions, and his apprentice was more concerned with power than the same.

Zhar cared not for the items of the physical world either, not since joining the Sith so long ago, but there were a few creature comforts that he had grown fond of. Acquiring those would be something that he would be looking into in due time, but for now he was concerned primarily with the personal console in the chambers.

It was pass-coded, but using a small amount of the skills Zhar had obtained through the years in hacking he was able to bypass and reset the password to one of his own choosing, giving him full access to whatever the previous Supreme Prophets had recorded.

Most of these from Dass'in Zhar ignored, as they were likely fanatically loyal to the Sith and their ideals, but instead focused primarily on what Feyd had been up to, as the traitor would likely have something that might be used against the Emperor in a pinch.

The other human had been quite thorough on keeping records, and still somewhat naive regarding the security of his systems. It was a surprise that no one had already attempted to steal from the younger man, but Zhar presumed that Feyd had kept a close following of loyalists around him to prevent any such intrusion into his personal chambers.

Zhar considered following the same route, but he was very much a loner among the Empire. Aside from his apprentice, there were none that he trusted, and while he was greatly respected for his achievements, there was no way he was going to allow some unknown entity guard anything of his that might prove to be his downfall.

So instead, using a combination of his terminal skills, he heavily locked down the console so that none other than himself would be able to easily gain access, and in addition he used the Dark Side to place a protective aura around the chamber, making it seem to always be occupied and locked, which would cause any attempted intruder to give pause.

That accomplished, and new research loaded and prepared for him to browse at the earliest opportunity, Zhar decided it would be best to take a long tour of New Kaas City, and take stock of the goings on around the system, so that he had something to measure against when the inevitable sabotage from the lower council began.

Not even trusting another to fly the speeder he was in, Zhar took the wheel himself, piloting the speeder over the traffic of the rest of the city, and circled the areas slowly, getting a feel for the flow of the Force over the capital of the Sith Empire.

It was surprising how many non-Force-sensitives actually lived in the city, members of the upper class, relatives of high ranking officials or Dark Adepts and the like, and Zhar found the entire political game disgusting. However, it was the role that he was assigned, and by the will of the Emperor he was forced to fulfill it, with results.

Although truthfully, Zhar knew that this was a delay, putting Zhar in the situation that he liked least in order to prevent him from maintaining any semblance of free time to research weaknesses in the Emperor.

As he flew, there was a sudden explosion in the industrial district of the city, and Zhar sighed loudly, knowing he was alone, "They didn't waste any time getting started," he grumbled, turning in the direction of the fire as it started in earnest from the section of the city that had ruptured. The only question was who was really behind this, Zhar rationalized as he punched the accelerator to get to the location of the disturbance as quickly as possible.

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Fury knew something was up. The hasty calling off of their assignments on the planet, in combination with the secrecy that both Lord Diábolis and Sorcerer Kelrek were keeping regarding their activities in the library guaranteed that, but without proof the Marauder did not wish to try and bring anything to the mind of the Emperor, for fear of punishment and the off chance that he was just paranoid.

Still, there was a different aura in the air when he saw the Sith Lord next. Diábolis was giving out commands to the various fleets, returning them to their normal duties and preparing to return to their task of hunting the rebels.

This was good, Fury thought. They had wasted much time here, and clearly it had not yielded much in the way of results. Granted, they had had an obligation to respond to such sightings, even if they proved fruitless, but Fury felt that something else was at play here, and he wanted to find out what.

Therefore, he waited until the meeting between Diábolis and the other leaders ended, and moved forward. "Ah, Lord Fury… excellent," the Sith said turning to face him, "I was just about to go search for you myself…" Fury didn't believe that for a second, but said nothing.

Even as the Devaronian started to explain the technical and categorical victor that they had on the planet of Ossus, Fury was busy reading through the pretext into what the Force was telling him. Diábolis was far too pleased with the results of their mission, and it clearly had nothing to do with any supposed rebel activity, of which Fury highly doubted that there was any.

The fact that they would be heading back into the fray toward the southern part of the Galaxy also wasn't of interest to him either, rather it was the fact that they would be far closer to the core of the Galaxy in that location. He knew he was speculating, but there seemed enough of a feeling in the Force to confirm what he felt as true.

The Sith apprentice was planning something against the Emperor, just as he suspected, and he would need to find proof to bring before the Emperor, and quickly.

"…and that is why I am returning you to your own fleet," Diábolis said, catching Fury off guard and returning him to the conversation that he had been ignoring.

"What?" Fury asked, blinking at the words.

"You've been requested elsewhere, and thus I am returning you from my service, so that you can better serve the rest of the Empire," Diábolis stated, smirking in a way that Fury was sure meant that the Sith was aware of what Fury was up to.

"I… understand. We'll prepare immediately to depart." Fury said after a long moment, silently fuming at his missed opportunity.

"Good, we'll be stopping off at your rendezvous point soon…" Diábolis said as Fury turned away.

But even as he departed the bridge, Fury was already forming a new plan. Sending a coded message to his forces and Calamity to gather their things and be ready to leave, he started toward the Sith Lord's private quarters immediately. If he was being sent away, then he was leaving with information of what the Devaronian wanted to hide from the Emperor.

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Yoda knew that they were winning, as with every additional pod that was destroyed around the control room of the Star Forge, the centaur Dark Adept went into a greater fury. But with the added strength that the Dark Side gave the creature, it stole from his ability to think clearly, and soon sloppy mistakes started to show themselves.

By the time they had cleared out half of the pods in the chamber, the horse-man was taking to charging the troopers and completely abandoning his duel with the goblin Jedi Master. In these strange lulls, Yoda would work just as swiftly to plant more explosives himself, which meant that no matter what the High Prophet did, pods would be destroyed.

As the creature lumbered back to their fight once more after scattering the rebel troopers, but failing to slay any of them because of the magic in their armor protecting them from the more severe attack that the centaur threw at them, Yoda was ready.

Throwing himself backward, he lured the centaur forward several steps, right into a patch of explosives that he had placed. The floor detonated, forcing the Dark Adept to leap into the air and expose himself.

Yoda reached deep into the Force, bypassing the natural shielding that all Force user's had to protect themselves from telekinesis, and grabbed the creature, slamming him back to the ground with the groan of metal.

The horse legs kicked and flailed, even as the Dark Adept struggled to escape the clutches of the Force, but Yoda held him fast. This allowed the rest of the pods to be wired for destruction, which would cut the power of the station completely and deny the Emperor a powerful resource.

The centaur managed to break free for a moment, long enough to throw his saber at the goblin. Yoda was forced to release his hold on the Force in order to dodge the massive blade. The centaur leapt to its hooves and recalled the weapon, ready to continue the duel, just as the rest of pods were destroyed. The power in the facility fluctuated, and emergency lighting turned on.

"You fools! You have no idea what you've done!" the High Prophet rages, even as the station shuddered. Yoda could sense that the entire station was moving; being pulled into the sun that it was leeching energy from.

They had won, "fall back we must!" he called out, and the troopers started to scramble for the door, even as Yoda continued to fight with the centaur, green and crimson sabers clashing in the darkness. Yoda tried multiple times to break off the duel and slip away, but the centaur now had the singular goal of preventing his escape so that they would both be destroyed in the ruin of the station.

Dodging out of the way of the trampling hooves as the centaur cut him off again, Yoda flipped backward, trying to put distance between them so that he could plan another route of escape. The various exits of the chamber were flashing with the warning lights and sirens regarding their loss of orbit around the sun, but every time he started toward one of these exits, the High Prophet would move to place himself between Yoda and the door he started toward.

"If I am to be disgraced and slain by the Emperor, or else in the fall of my station, then I will take the delight of taking the esteemed Master Yoda with me into the void beyond this life!" the centaur raged, stamping forward and swinging the saberpike with expertise at the goblin.

Yoda parried quickly, falling back into the defensive, and striving to find an opening in the centaur's attacks. It seemed that the cold fury of losing the station had refined his rage into a singular beam of destructive fury, and sharpened the edges that had been growing lax as they fought earlier.

If Yoda didn't change the flow of battle quickly, then he would be either overwhelmed or otherwise hindered and perish in the crash of the station. Leaping back from a downward stab of the overlarge saberpike, Yoda noticed the grating that they were standing on, and the small ducts that tunneled their way around underneath. They were far too small for the standard human, but just right for the much smaller body of a goblin.

Putting on a new burst of speed, Yoda spun in a circle and cut the grating away, dropping down into the underlying network of ventilation. Scrambling through the metal tunnel, Yoda had to dodge several times as the centaur tried to impale him as he navigated the shafts blindly.

But in the end, there was little that the High Prophet could do to stop Yoda from finally escaping the chamber and cutting his way back to the corridor beyond the sealed blast doors.

Racing through the corridors, Yoda sensed when the Dark Adept blasted his way through the door and began the pursuit. Yoda luckily had a decent head start, and through some careful maneuvering he was able to take shorter routes that would trip up the much larger centaur, and thereby slow down the chase even further.

Through this method of doubling back and slipping through tighter spaces, Yoda was able to reach the hangar long before the Dark Adept, and just in time, as the last of the troopers had already boarded, and the entire station was starting to quake is a drew nearer the sun it had been harvesting, the pressure starting to heat and buckle weaker portions of the station.

The centaur burst through the doors by the time Yoda made it most of the way to the shuttle, and charge while bellowing a roar of rage. Yoda turned, catching the threatening point of the crimson blade with his own, leaping out of the way as the massive body hurtled past him.

Knowing that he had no other alternative but to fight for his life, Yoda sprung into action, refusing to continue relying on pure defense. Ataru sequences flowed from his body and blade, unleashing a flurry of strike on every available part of his opponent, flowing freely with the Force as his strikes were blocked or parried and continuing to press his attack.

The centaur fell back, the sudden reversal surprising for the Dark Side adept. As parts of the hangar started to rupture, the outside area buckling from the pressure as the entire station started to implode. Several fuel canisters next to the dueling pair already seemed ready to burst.

Yoda channeled the Force and threw his opponent backward, directly into the strained and hissing tanks. The resulting explosion threw Yoda back, but he landed on his feet and immediately turned to flee to the shuttle. Whether the centaur survived or not was irrelevant, as the crashing station would take care of that just as quickly.

The pilot was ready for Yoda to get on board, and took off immediately; rocketing out of the station and fighting the gravitational pull of the sun. Luckily they were not nearly close enough that their engines couldn't fight and get them away, but it took a significantly longer time than typically acceptable.

From the rear viewing port, Yoda watched as the station slowly buckled as it fell into the sun, eventually becoming incinerated and unable to be viewed beyond the blinding flare that accompanied contact between the station and the surface of the sun.

Letting out a sigh as the explosion in the Force died away from the powerful factory's destruction, Yoda turned away from the viewport, allowing himself to slip temporarily into a healing trance. They had some time before they arrived at the withdrawn fleet, and then from the fleet rendezvous point to return back to Bakura.

Their objective was complete, and a decisive blow struck against the Emperor.

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Diábolis smirked as he watched Fury and his forces departing his ship for good. It was too bad that the Marauder didn't find anything when he searched through the Sith Lord's private chamber, nor gleaned anything from Diábolis himself in the pathetic attempts to interrogate the Sith Lord for information.

The cyborg human was clearly decided that he was on the side of the Emperor, and therefore Diábolis' enemy. To that end, he hid any sense of the blade he had taken from Ossus, and chose to forward Fury to the most likely point that the rebels would attack, using the Marauder as bait for luring out a Mage-born into the open.

Meanwhile, the Trio, specifically Kelrek, would be on the lookout for when this trap would be sprung, and Diábolis would at last have the next piece of the puzzle to eliminate Veneficus for good.

Having given only some of the details to Kelrek, Diábolis returned to his chambers and withdrew the blade from his robes. The weapon was more extravagant than simply severing the connection between force spirits and their possessed host. It actually passively absorbed Force energy, much as the Emperor's scepter did, and therefore it grew in strength when in a powerful charged area, or wielded by a particularly strong Force user, or even when used against a powerful Force user.

Since all three events were likely to come together when the final confrontation occurred, Diábolis had a fair amount of certainty that he would end up wielding the superior weapon, one that would be more than able to kill the old man at long last.

The only issue remaining was depriving Veneficus of his magic, and making sure that there was a large enough distraction in the Coruscant Palace to let Diábolis get close to the Emperor to strike once more.

Despite no official mandate given, the Sith Apprentice could tell that he was not welcome on the central planet of the Galaxy any longer, and to attempt to set foot there would cause many bounty hunters and assassins to have free reign to attempt to kill him.

He had to force a situation where the Emperor summoned him back, and then he would be able to act without worry of outside interference. Through careful manufacturing of the success of the rebels, he would make that situation happen.

The destruction of the Star Forge would be the first step. If he knew, through his infiltrator and spy, that they had assaulted the facility already, it might be gone even now. This move would certainly grab the attention of the Emperor, as he now had no secret place to store his artifacts and build their ships without sharing the secrets of Magi-technology with the rest of the Galaxy.

Diábolis knew that the Sith Lord had no desire to share his power or knowledge with anyone, and it was his guess that the madman would simply allow the flow of their powerful ships to just cease, allowing weaker ships to be substituted in for those he did not trust, hording all the massive and powerful ships that were part Wild Force for himself and the most important of the upper class of the Empire.

That would allow the rebels prime targets to slowly eliminate those fleets one by one, securing their power and superiority in space combat, while pressing on the Empire from any direction they so wished.

Meanwhile, Diábolis had seen to it that the fringe worlds of the Empire were well oppressed and ripe for defection to the rebellion, in both small insurrections and full blown withdrawal from the Empire, which would succeed in spreading out the imperial navy throughout the Outer Rim.

That, combined with betrayal and assassination within the Empire, would weaken the structure enough to Force Veneficus back into the light of the Galaxy, removing him from his source of power and influence in the Force at Coruscant.

It was a plan that had to be taken very slowly, so as to not make waves enough to alert the Emperor to their movements in the Force. Diábolis had spent many years studying the power of foresight, and he know felt that he knew more regarding it than even his Master, although his skill with the ability was far weaker. If he moved slow enough and gradually, then there would be no more than a whisper of his desire in the Force for the Emperor to pick up on.

That was the mistake that many made in trying to defeat the Emperor. Move too fast, act too rashly, and you would cause a ripple in space, time, and the Force that were alert the man to your actions. The bigger the ripple, the more he would learn and understand. The strike on the Star Forge only worked because of the careful timing that Diábolis had enacted for it, coinciding with Supreme Prophet Feyd's rebellion and outright attack on the system of Korriban, urged and abetted by Diábolis' minions in the former Supreme Prophet's camp.

Even the appointment of Zhar Quelmok to the station in the aftermath was guessed and predicted by Diábolis, and his infiltrators on the Imperial Capital were already hard at work to prevent a full reorganization of the Dark Council, as well as keeping the place a hotbed of contention and therefore at the forefront of the Emperor's mind.

Veneficus thought that he saw all things, but Diábolis knew better. The Emperor only saw what his apprentice wanted him to see. And until the last moment, when he placed this blade into the old man's body, it would continue thusly.

For now however, it mattered very little where Diábolis went and what his fleet did, so he ordered them to sweep the southeast portion of the Galaxy, where he knew that the rebels were not located, although many of their allies would be present to report back the presence of an Imperial fleet.

Diábolis smirked as he returned to his chambers. There was little to do but wait for the time being, and thus he would do.

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Filius was concerned at how straight forward and downright simple it had been to infiltrate, assault, and destroy such an important and powerful station. The Jedi had reported that this particular station had significant meaning in their history, and while they refused to say much beyond that, it still told that half-goblin Charms Master that there would be a terrible reprisal from the Emperor for destroying it.

With all speed they returned to Bakura, and while there was a great deal of celebration among the lower ranked officers and volunteer troopers, the upper echelon of leadership held a solemn meeting, between both Bakura and Hoth.

"This place, the Star Forge, should have not existed," Jedi Lord Berethon said, "The only known factory like this was destroyed in that very place by the Redeemed Jedi Knight Revan. I cannot fathom how the Emperor found another."

"Another Star Forge, I doubt that it was," Master Yoda commented, standing beside Filius as they held this conference.

"That's impossible, isn't it?" Knight Ist replied, looking at her former master with concern. "the Star Forge was shattered and destroyed. There is no possible way that it could be repaired…"

"Magic…" Director Granger said seriously, drawing all their attention. The woman's image shimmered as she spoke, still on Hoth among her equipment and gadgets, "If the Emperor used all the tools at his disposal early on before the war started, he would have had an excessive amount of magical power… it's something that had had me concerned for a long time. He never delved too far into magical combat during the war, and I always wondered why."

"So you think he used up all the power he siphoned from the Dark Lord, the Headmaster, and other items and relics he acquired to forcefully restore and rebuild this battlestation…" Professor Snape added from his own potion lab.

"There is little other explanation." Ms. Granger replied, visibly repressing a shudder, "to even imagine the amount of magic that required, tells us a great deal about how powerful the madman truly is."

"At least he cannot repeat that feat…" Filius chimed in, "now that the station has fallen into the heart of a sun and been completely annihilated. He would need ten times that amount of magic to restore it now."

"The real question," Berethon continued, nodding in agreement with all that was said, "is how do we proceed? The Emperor is sure to attempt to redress this attack, but at the same time we cannot allow the opportunity to take to the offensive depart from us."

Ms. Granger looked thoughtful, "if we have eliminated their center for creating magi-tech based ships, then we ought to target each of their fleets as quickly. We can take command of the space battles if we ambush and destroy or hijack their ships to strip the last ones with any true strength in comparison…"

"I agree, that would be an effective follow up strategy, and we do severely need more ships." Filius added, to which Granger smiled at him gratefully.

"It's settled then," the former Republic commander, called only by the call-sign Meteor, affirmed. "Havoc squad will gladly lead the charge alongside whoever will aid us in seizing as many ships as possible from Imperial shipyards and in transit."

"I believe Operative Shade will be most helpful in locating where and what vessels will be easy targets for us to acquire," Filius added, looking toward his fellow Mage-born, who exchanged a curious glance before agreeing.

"I will make the necessary contact with Shade," Severus said, "We will have the information swiftly."

"Until that time, may the Force be with us…" Berethon said in conclusion, and the holocommunications ended alongside the meeting being adjourned. "That went far better than I expected," Filius said to Yoda as they turned to depart.

"Indeed, but worried I am, regarding the sense of dread in the Force I feel." The Jedi Master responded.

Filius did not even attempt to understand what the Jedi was referring to, but just nodded. There were indeed a few things off about the meeting. The hesitation to implement Shade was strange, and the willingness of Havoc Squad to leap into action so quickly again after their victory over the Star Forge was equally strange.

"We will need to act swiftly, but cautiously." Filius said, in response more to his thoughts than what the Jedi had said, "Something feels somewhat off about all of this."


	24. C23: Dark Realization

**Good news everyone! the final editing for the rest of OAC's chapters is complete! many thanks to those who continue to review, and please enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Three**

 **Dark Realization**

Veneficus raged at the new he received. The loss of the Star Forge was an unexpected blow, shielded from his view by the internal treachery by his closest advisors and servants. The poor fool that brought the Emperor the information after the tremor through the Force did not survive, his broken body being dumped into the sewers for Zychre to consume.

So much had been destroyed in that station's loss, and much of what Venefiucs had personally worked for in the early days of the Empire had just been rendered useless to him. He had spent much of the magic he had gained from both Voldemort and Dumbledore's deaths to bring back that ancient relic, magnifying the power of the Wild Force through the Elder Wand, and now it was gone.

But that was not all; as there had been artifacts stores aboard that station that none were allowed to know of, records and holocrons whose knowledge was now lost for all time outside of Veneficus himself.

The loyalty of the centaur High Prophet was also a blow against him, as the creature had been one of his oldest personal allies, who had not been recruited by his former Master, but Veneficus himself.

Luckily he had long ago removed the Scepter of Ragnos from that place, or else the powerful artifact might have been lost as well, and with it the massive store of Force energy that currently powered a defensive barrier over an ancient site that Veneficus had sought to conceal from the view of all others, even the most trusted of his servants.

However, now that the Star Forge was gone, and he knew that even the most hidden of things might not be safe, Veneficus had to make a difficult decision. Ought he abandon his previous designs and recover those items that were of great importance to himself, for the sake of magnifying his power further, and use them to make up the difference in what was lost to him?

Searching the future for guidance to a productive end, Veneficus could not see what his enemies were up to next, and it baffled him. They had managed to escape his view, blinding him in the rage at the loss of his factory, and the surprise that he had not sensed it coming.

Straining himself in the Force to see beyond his normal sight, something inside his physical body snapped, and Veneficus saw blood rolling down before his eyes. A vein had ruptured in his head, and while that typically was a death sentence to true mortals, Veneficus reveled in the pain and anger that it caused, and downed another vial of the Elixir of Life, casually banishing the blood from his skin and robes as the wound mended itself.

Casually glancing at his reflection, Veneficus noted that some ailments were starting to resist even the powerful magical elixir. The blackening of the veins of his face remained, and while they caused no pain, they added to a visage of fear and power that the Sith had gained. Like it or not, Veneficus had to accept that he was indeed dying as a far more rapid pace, and that he was on borrowed time with the Elixir, and it would not last forever.

There was little time for him to waste on such fruitless pursuits such as the Star Forge. He needed to find the key to immortality as swiftly as the secret allowed itself to be revealed.

Rising from his throne, the Sith Emperor set to work with what preparations he needed. There were many Sith Lords he had not interrogated, long lost ones that existed as bare whispers and mentions in the records he owned. Veneficus would need to travel back to where his mission first started, Krayiss Two and the secret vault of Darth Zeemar.

Now that the planet was lacking a High Prophet to control it, there would be little that would prevent the Emperor from slipping into the secret vault unnoticed and gathering what relics and information he had been required previously to leave behind.

Summoning his personal pilot to ready his shuttle, Veneficus went to a vault in the Coruscant Palace, and withdrew an ornate Sith Mask, the very same that he once wore long ago when he butchered an entire bank in the vain attempt to eliminate enemies that knew too much. Obscuring his face from the public would be needed until he succeeded in his quest now, but there had been many a Sith Lord that wore masks, this one in fact, including the infamous Darth Revan.

Departing swiftly once he had what he desired, Veneficus boarded his shuttle, and ordered for the man to take him to the coordinates indicated in the ship. He never allowed the pilot to actually know the location that they were heading toward, mostly just monitor the auto pilot and make sure that it functioned correctly.

After several hours of Hyperspace travel, the ship returned to normal space over the planet, flying between the two moons of the system to mask their approach. The pilot was watchful and made sure that the ship landed gracefully in the mountains as it ought to, and Veneficus commanded the man to refuel the ship while he went out, and that he would return soon.

Stepping onto the world, Veneficus could sense the turmoil that was taking place in the settled part of the planet, far from this location and filled with Dark Adepts and other Imperial civilians that did not know why their leader and most of their defense fleet had vanished without a trace.

Entering the crag between the rocks, Veneficus entered the hidden tomb-like vault that resided therein. Darth Zeemar had prepared this place for a long time, making sure to hide it deep in the Sith Core worlds so that no others would find it unless he so desired it.

Within the vault, rows upon rows of ancient texts and scrolls dating back to the dawn of the Sith Order sat, dust growing upon them and their parchments unable to withstand even being moved from the vault. Veneficus had read them all, and knew much regarding the most ancient of Sith from them, but he recalled a specific name being mentioned in one of the newer, relatively speaking. There were also a great deal of items that had been added by Veneficus himself, and he would be taking one of those back with him, feeling that the added power would be needed in due time.

Sifting through the dusty and crumbling parchment, Veneficus searched long for the small scrap of information he had passed over so many years ago. Soon, after pulling an entire shelf down on top of what he was already looking through, he found it. The briefest mention of a powerful Sith that had caught the attention of Marka Ragnos, who somehow had survived all the way through the reign of Naga Sadow. This unknown figure had ot be the key.

"Marka Ragnos I summon you…" Veneficus intoned, spinning the jewel on his ring, the most prized possession he owned, apart from the Philosopher's Stone itself.

The shade, already endeared to Veneficus and utterly loyal to the survival of the Sith had no choice but to appear. "You have called for me, little Emperor?" the Sith Hybrid asked.

"I read here of a young sith you yourself rose up from his squalor and named… who is this one?" Veneficus requested, "I need to know, for I suspect there might be a lead to my path of immortality."

The shade, already knowing the mind of Veneficus and what he was requesting nodded, "He was a headstrong and powerful killer… he was Tenebrae, and I renamed him Lord Vitiate… that is all that I know regarding the one you seek."

"A name is all I need…" Veneficus replied, smirking as he allowed the greatest of Sith Lords before himself fade back into the netherworld.

Spinning the little stone once more, Veneficus gathered the power of the Dark Side to him. This would be a wild shade, and if he knew anything regarding the spirits of dead Sith, it would likely desire very much to return to life through the current Emperor.

"Lord Vitiate, known as Tenebrae, I summon you!" Veneficus commanded to the darkness.

For a long time there was silence, before another shade manifested itself in the room.

"What manner of Sith art is this, that you can summon me from the realm of the dead?" the shade demanded.

"Something far greater than you ever hoped or dreamed of…" Veneficus replied, outright refusing to tell any of his skill and mastery over the dead. "I hear that you had the means to cheat death for hundreds if not thousands of years…"

"As much good as it did in the end, defeated by outlanders and Jedi heroes…" the Sith shade responded, the grim face set like stone.

"I demand of you the secret of immortality, so that I might rule the Empire forever!" Veneficus said commandingly.

"From one Eternal Emperor to another, I can see that you will need my skills, and soon…" the former Sith Emperor, known by many names and faces replied, laughing at the need behind his mortal counterpart.

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Euka was quite enjoying her mock role as High Prophet of Korriban. There had been a small bout of challenge when the rest of the local council of the planet met with her. She assured them all she was acting on orders from Zhar, who was still High Prophet over the planet as well as Supreme Prophet of Dromund Kaas. That had settled them, and they fell in line with her sham, although Euka could tell that they all were hoping to placate her into revealing who if any of them were considered to take the place of Zhar on Korriban.

Meanwhile, candidate after candidate were brought before her, obeying her every whim in order to try and please her into selecting them as 'her' apprentice. However, both her eyes and the Force itself were ready keeping her passive, waiting as each and every one were passed over, angry and dejected at losing the opportunity of a lifetime, or so they thought.

That was until the fiftieth or so candidate entered, the Force singing around him like a wildfire. The Duros was taller than average, with shimmering green skin that rippled with muscle. He was a true brute after the likes of Fury the Marauder to be sure, but possessing a keener and more sinister mind.

"And you are?" Euka said, maintaining an air of aloofness as she languished casually on Zhar's throne in the Korriban council chamber.

"Jol Tugno, High Prophet…" the Duros said, bowing slightly. Euka noted that it was far shallower than any of the previous candidates. This one suspected something, and it pleased her.

Still, she would go through the standard tests just to be sure if this was indeed the one that she sought. Gesturing to a large set of ornamental stones set tastefully into plinths.

"Lift them, and move them to the plinths there on the other side of the room," she ordered, pointing then to an identical set of plinths across the room. It was a basic task, but it required lots of concentration, and that would allow Euka to ask questions of each candidate as they moved the stones.

The Duros nodded, obeying just as the countless other had before him and reached out with one hand. The first three of various sizes lifted slowly into the air and began to move. Euka waited for the stones to be halfway across the room before she asked her first question.

"What do you feel regarding the Emperor's rule of the Galaxy?" she asked pointedly, and watched for the reaction.

She had seen all manner of results from this line of questions. The most common was that her victim would momentarily lose control of the stones, usually recovering before they crashed to the ground, but otherwise being taken off guard by the casual mention of the Emperor and how he had managed the Galaxy up to this point.

It had proved to be the best method of disqualifying candidates Euka had found. Those that had had their ability with the Force empowered by thoughts of the Emperor were completely unviable for her and Zhar's plans, and therefore easily sent away with neutral words about not being what Euka sought in an apprentice.

This Duros however, merely stilled the stones he was holding as he considered the question. "I never knew the Emperor personally, nor have I ever seen him, so I cannot have an opinion on his methods of control over us," he said, before setting the first stone he had chosen into its mirror plinth.

"Would you say that the methods of our government are perfectly reasonable for every member of the Empire?" Euka asked again, when the next, much larger stone had lifted from its plinth.

That got a reaction. The stone dipped heavily, and Euka smirked. The Duros slipped in his neutral mask, and she got a full view of the utter rage and anger that lay beneath. "The Empire destroyed my community, took me from my family, and killed them all as I was whisked away to serve them on this forsaken hole. I would not say that at all…"

Whatever response or punishment the young Adept was thinking Euka would throw at him, he was clearly surprised that it didn't come. Euka was smirking widely as she beckoned for him to proceed with his task. But she was not even close to finished with her questions. The pure anger regarding the Empire and its lesser rulers completely in line with her and Zhar's ideals, and would work perfectly to aid them fully.

"Would you flee?" she asked, as the Duros was about to lift another stone.

The Duros froze, clearly wondering what madness she was thinking in asking that question. Euka said nothing more, waiting expectantly for an answer. Turning away, the Dark Adept said softly, "Yes, I'd leave at the first chance…"

He went to start lifting the next stone, and Euka pressed down with the Force, preventing the stone from rising. Jol turned to look at her as Euka stood and stepped down from the raised chair. "I have made my choice. We have similar ends in mind Jol Tugno. You, I, and my Master will do great things…"

"I… what?" the Duros said, confused.

"You didn't honestly think I was really the High Prophet of Korriban did you? Zhar lives, and is Supreme Prophet, and why would I give up the chance to take on that greater seat for the backwater wasteland here?" Euka said darkly, matching the hidden anger that the Duros had revealed earlier.

"I had something of a suspicion…" the male replied, clearly on edge for some sort of final test that Euka might spring on him.

"Your judgment is correct then…" Euka said, smirking at the man's confusion, "I suppose congratulations are in order. You are worthy of being Supreme Prophet Zhar's second apprentice…"

"So I'm to be your rival?" Jol asked, rightful fearful of the prospect.

"No," Euka assured the Duros, "You are to take over duties for him in preparation to become High Prophet of Korriban, while I will continue to serve until I rise to the rank of Supreme Prophet myself…"

There was distrust in the Duros' voice, but eventually he calmed somewhat, "I see, so all this was to set up a series of challenges to find the right candidate for the position. And I presume I passed."

"First out of over fifty candidates," Euka added, stroking the male's ego just slightly. "But we haven't time to really care further regarding this world. You will have plenty of time to ask the Supreme Prophet your questions directly, but for now keep you peace and let us depart."

Without even paying attention to the Duros from that point, Euka departed. From the sound of the heavy footsteps she knew he was following, and that was all she cared about. Finding her shuttle prepped and fueled just as she had requested, she boarded swiftly and ordered the pilot to depart the tomb-world and head for the Imperial Capital of Dromund Kaas.

Momentarily, she thought of the poor fools that were waiting for the passed over chance to prove themselves to her. The Force twined in annoyance that she would dispute her choice at this point, and she settled herself that the candidate that she had chosen was the ideal selection.

She hoped that the Duros had the stomach to handle what was to come however, as the subtle vibrations of fear and anticipation wafting off Jol might prove to be his, and by extension her and Zhar's, undoing.

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Lord Fury couldn't contain his rage, even so long after being dismissed from the presence of Diábolis. The action of the Sith Lord more than affirmed the speculation of the Marauder that the Devaronian had something to hide, especially from anyone with loyalties tied back to the Emperor. Unfortunately, now that he was sent away, there was no possible way for him to discover the truth, nor would he dare bring the allegation to the Emperor without proof.

Instead, he had yet another assignment to act the part of an enforcer and brute, and he was growing quite sick of the role that he had been assigned. Deep in his meditations, Fury let his mind drift back to the source from which he placed all blame regarding his life: Zhar Quelmok.

From what he had learned through the secret channels of the higher figures in the Empire, Zhar was now the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, and the thought of his most hated enemy achieving so much set Fury's blood boiling even further.

He was sorely tempted to abandon all that he was assigned to do, and finally achieve the revenge that he had secretly sought for the longest time, that of killing Zhar Quelmok. The anger and desire for that goal was strong, and it took a great deal of control for Fury to tame his rage. He would not have the opportunity unless he was summoned to Dromund Kaas itself.

Till then, there was little to do but follow the instructions he was given, suppress a world that was trying to depart from the Empire altogether, clearly from rebel influence, and Fury knew that only blood and death would sate him for a time.

Calamity could sense the turmoil in Fury just as easily, the troll being powerfully gifted in sensing the emotions of others. It was a strange empathy that allowed the beast to become even more dangerous of a rampaging creature, literally feasting off the fear and anger of his enemies. Fury was rather pleased that they had discovered the key Force gift that the creature possessed, as that seemed to solve the issue of the lumbering nature of the troll's sheer size and bulk.

As their shuttle started from the cruiser toward the planet of their target, Fury could see the fires from orbit as the Imperial center of the planet was burning. There would be blood and to spare in revenge for the defiance that this world had expressed.

The shuttle landed in a heavily populated square, a rallying point where the last of the Empire's troops had retreated to await reinforcements. Fury stalked slowly down the ramp, sweeping the area and finding them completely surrounded by the anger and rebellious folly of the native populace.

"My Lord, are we glad that you've arrived." A nearby trooper, the last remaining officer in charge, said.

"I suppose that that is the case," Fury said dismissively. He could not be bothered with such simpering when there were so many enemies to slay. "You'll take your forces and push back to the Imperial command center. I refuse to allow such technology fall into the hands of the rebels."

"But sir, that location is overrun. We'll never… ack!"

Lifting the fool by the throat with his mechanical hand, Fury turned slowly to look at the soldier, who was already graying as blood was denied entry to his brain, "I do not care if you or your forces survive, I want to draw out my prey, and you are the perfect bait… understand…" he said slowly.

The officer could not reply, but the fear in his eyes was a clear indication, and Fury tossed him hard to the ground. Coughing and sputtering, the man scrambled away, and the troopers backed away slowly from Fury. Successfully cowed into obedience, Fury knew that they would do as he wished, and soon enough he would have exact locations for his wrath to be unleashed.

As the troops moved out, the expected ambush started. The rebels were fools to think that simply popping out of their cover and raining down blaster bolts would be enough to protect them. Gesturing at the closest position, Fury smirked as his elite Wrathguard fired a rocket at the location.

The high balcony exploded, and Fury ordered his personal forces to spread out, and eliminate all resistance, before leaping on top of the roof of the closest building. His sabers flared to life in his hands, and he started running alongside the moving bait.

From his higher vantage, he was able to easily see where the knots of rebels were cowardly hiding, taking stray shots at the line of running troopers, and slowly whittling them down.

With a burst of the Force, Fury threw himself to the next roof, where a group of six rebels were focused completely on the bait. By the time they turned and noticed his arrival, three were already dead and in pieces.

The fourth got a pair of shots off before Fury took his left hand, right forearm, and head in a savage flurry of strikes. The final three tried to flee, but Fury hurled his sabers, skewering two as he grasped the last through the Force, holding the being aloft as he stepped closer. Pulling the being closer, he took great pleasure in crushing the neck with his mechanical hand.

Retrieving his sabers swiftly after that, he searched for his next target. Even as Fury leapt from roof to roof, he spotted Calamity barreling through barricades and building walls alike, following the scent of the rebels as well as his own premonitions in the Force, wading into their secure locations like a thunderclap.

The rebels eagerly fled from before the massive troll, which allowed the marksmen of his Wrathguard to pick them off one by one as they ran. Fury found himself somewhat bored as he laid waste to the next high nest of rebels.

Where was the challenge? What he would give for a Jedi to manifest themselves and fight him, so he could feel the true rush of battle overtake him. As it was this was merely an exercise in control and precision, and that was not the sort of thrill that he sought.

A rebel threw a grenade at Fury, and with a lazy wave of his hand he banished it back into the sniper's cover, silencing the scream with the massive explosion.

He started to walk toward the next group of hidden troopers, who spotted him coming and rose up out of their cover with a pair of missile launchers. The lead trooper started shooting, while the other two fired a pair of rockets at Fury.

Batting aside the blaster bolts, fury deflected both of the missiles with the Force, but did not notice the third who had fired a moment after. The missile caught him in the chest, and he knew his armor would hold, but shrapnel flew upward into his face, causing a searing pain to shoot through his body.

Angry now, he pulled the force around him and caused the extra rockets around the group of rebels to detonate prematurely, annihilating their position. Fury could tell his hair had been all but incinerated, and there would be a deal of scarring on his lower face and jaw, but there was no time to fall back and get medical treatment.

Suppressing the pain with the Force, he pushed onward, taking out another three groups of rebels that were harassing the Imperial troops he had sent ahead as bait.

They had almost arrived at the entrance to the Imperial Command Center, and Fury could see from the building tops that it was just as infested with enemy troops as he had been told. Leaping down to the street level, Fury found the company and halted them before they burst into the open of the heavy guarded site.

Ignoring the reactions to his visage, Fury addressed the lead officer, who was also sporting a bandage on his arm where he had been hit.

"The Wrathguard will take point, I want all of you to infiltrate the Command Center and lock it down so we can trap the rebels inside. My apprentice and I will be herding them all into the base while you do so, so I urge stealth as your objective."

"U…understood…" the man replied, trying hard to look Fury in the eye and not take in the rest of the Marauder's face.

Calamity arrived with the Wrathguard at that point, and Fury related the plan swiftly to them, ordering snipers to take up strategic positions around the Command Center. He would have a side entrance cleared while a large attack happened at the primary entrance by his elite soldiers, his apprentice, and he himself.

Once they were all in position, he led the charge into the square, batting aside the horde of blaster shots that came at them from the troopers that blocked the way. Most of the rebels did exactly as Fury had suspected, and fled inside to the presumed cover of the Command Center.

Cutting down the few fools that remained, Fury plunged his saber into the door controls, forcing the blast doors to seal themselves. "Fan out, seal the other entrances, I limit their means of escape to one, then we'll break inside." He ordered.

Calamity took part of the troops around to the left, and Fury led the rest to the right. One by one, they found all the side entrances as they worked their way around the building, sealing them shut and slaughtering any being still outside the structure.

Finally, when they met Calamity once more on the far side of the building, Fury left a squad of his Wrathguard to protect the now only entrance and exit on the ground floor of the building, and they started inside.

He would eliminate this petty resistance quickly, Fury told himself, and then he would focus his sights on a more worthy target.

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Severus did not like the idea of making use of Shade's information, now that he knew the origin of the Zabini clone, but he and Granger had come to the agreement that to spread that information around would be most unwise, and therefore he couldn't in good conscience just ignore the request for the man's assistance in their next venture.

The fact of the matter was that Shade had given them quite a lot and taken many risks to help them, and would be the only one of the rebellion to be able to find out the location of each magi-tech based fleet at any given time.

Opening the small room that had been turned into a holding chamber for the operative, Severus glanced at the man with equal measures of disdain and distrust. "I take it my help is needed," the man replied, looking perfectly peaceful, sitting cross-legged on the floor in the center of the room.

Severus merely grunted as he jerked his head for the man to follow. Stepping aside for the clone to gather his helmet and armor, Severus kept his wand out and in hand at all times, just in case.

"I do hope that eventually you will learn to trust me again, Professor," the clone said, and the strange way that the voice implied a level of familiarity grated on Severus' nerves.

"Do not speak to me that way again," Severus hissed, and the clone closed his eyes, understanding what had transpired.

"If I may in due time be given the ability to explain, I would like you to understand why I out of all my brothers and fellow clones rebelled against the Emperor, and the horrors that each of us endured, all the way back to the original." He said slowly, but Severus turned away.

He did not want to hear any concocted story that was meant to play upon their emotions, especially about one of his former students, and one that was indeed most foolish to believe that he alone could have any sort of connection with a monster that Potter turned out to truly be.

Those were times that Severus would very much like to completely forget, and dredging up those old wounds would serve nothing but to endanger them all as Severus was distracted by the conflicting emotions that they brought. Quelling them with a practiced mantra of Occlumency, Severus spoke. "just hurry up, the others wish to know if you will get the information they desire, and while none of them know your true identity, we have need of your particular ability to slip into Imperial areas undetected."

"I understand," Shade said, slipping his helmet back on and turning to face Severus, "I am ready," he said.

Severus eyed the man once, just to make sure everything was in place and nothing amiss. Nodding when he was satisfied, Severus led Shade back to the conference room where Ms. Granger awaited.

The meeting had ended shortly after he departed, but it was likely that they would hold a second to transfer what information Shade could relate to Bakura, and shade would be permitted to be present and say his piece.

Hermione looked just as suspicious of the man as Severus felt, but they turned to face him nonetheless. "We wish for you to get us the detailed routes and stop offs for the Imperial fleet…" Hermione said by way of introduction to the idea.

"That is a tall order," Shade replied, "I presume you want some specific ships and not a comprehensive report of every single vessel in the Imperial Navy?"

"Yes," the Director replied, "all those fleets that are operated by a Magi-Tech styled command cruiser, so that we may tap into their beacons and track them, as we go about eliminating them one by one, or else capture them for our own use."

"That…" Shade said, "is actually the most brilliant strategy I've ever heard. Using your mastery over that tech, as the creator, would be an impressive advantage over them. Although you would need engineers present at each capture or destruction to make sure that everything went according to plan."

"Can you do it or not?" Granger interrupted, clearly uncaring about the man's opinion regarding the strategy.

"Most certainly, but it'll take time to find them all, especially if the admirals or higher ranked officials went to any length to hide them…" Shade said finally.

"You will do this, and send us as much as you can as quickly as you find it, starting with those fleets closest to us." Director Granger commanded, and Shade nodded in reply.

"As you wish, but I do recommend that you allow me to help strategize each fleet's attack. I will also have the ability to gather information about the leaders and officers aboard each fleet, and give you detailed strategies how to counter the preferred style of warfare each favors."

Granger frowned, but Severus knew that it was an offer they could not refuse. "Do it, we will be in touch as soon as you locate the first batch of fleets." She said, and Severus set the Operative's equipment, as well as the command signal for his own ship on a table next to them.

"I will not fail you," Shade said as he took them up and departed.

"Did he even suspect?" Granger asked once the man was out of the room.

"Not even for a moment," Severus replied, smirking slightly. It had been all too easy to plant a tracking beacon on the man. Now they would know where he went and exactly how he went about collecting his information. Severus' personal bet was that the Zabini clone still had access to his armor as a former Arcanamach guard, and used that official status to his advantage, but he could be wrong.

The face of Blaise Zabini was probably mysterious enough in the empire to allow him anonymity, but he wasn't sure what the strategy would be. At the least they were going to be aware of it if the man betrayed them, and that was sufficient for him at the time being.

"In the meantime we'll start seeding various worlds closer to the Imperial core with spies and lookouts to monitor fleet movements and high profile targets," he said, pulling up a map of the Galaxy and pointing at key planets.

"Dromund Kaas would be ideal, but I get the feeling it wouldn't be the safest choice at the time being, and I do not feel safe sending any to Coruscant or Korriban," Hermione said, ticking off the most prominent worlds of the Empire.

Severus nodded, having come to that conclusion as well, "then one of the worlds with high traffic that is near to the Imperial cluster I think…" he said, narrowing the view of the projector to that section of the Galaxy.

It would take time for them to prep for this attack, which gave the Zabini clone time to do whatever it was that he was planning. Severus' only concern was whether he would going to have to hunt down and kill the clone or not, in the event of betrayal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diábolis smirked as he read the swift communication from his spy in the rebels. The fools were already preparing to attack the fleets of the empire, just as he had hoped. It would be all to easy to prepare his trap and snatch a mage-born out of the battle. Quickly looking through the records and navigations plans that he as the apprentice of the Emperor was permitted to view, it was appallingly easy to determine which fleet they would attack first.

The forces occupying Mygeeto were slothful and lazy, and the fact that they hadn't been downgraded to non-wartime weaponry would prove their undoing as an Imperial world. The rebels would strike there to liberate the ships for their own cause, and it was there that his trap would be set.

A quick, encoded message to Kelrek would ensure that the man would depart as soon as he was commanded, and Diábolis could focus on the rest of his spy's message.

Additional to their planned attacks, the rebels would starting spying efforts among the chief planets of the Empire, close to but not on any world that held a particularly powerful individual, such as the Emperor or the Supreme Prophet. It was amusing that they hadn't learned yet of the massive reordering that was taking place in the Dark Council.

Diábolis guessed that they might be bolder once they realized that this was the case, and while his spy was not able to reveal his extra knowledge for fear of outing himself as a counter spy, it would be useful for them to learn of the Empire's weakness as soon as possible.

He would make sure to declassify a few tidbits, not much to cause any alerts from those on Coruscant, but enough that anyone looking for something could find the truth.

In the midst of all his plots, Diábolis started to wonder if this was the same method and thought process that his master had gone through when overthrowing the previous Sith Master. And if that was the case, why did Veneficus stop being so perfectly manipulative and started to rely completely on power and the strength of others.

Perhaps that was just another sign that it was far past the time for the Emperor to step aside and allow Diábolis his chance at glory and power. The clear need for patience was nearly unbearable, but the Devaronian Sith Lord was planning to savor every moment when his revenge finally boiled to a head.

Long had he harbored his hatred for Veneficus, over every terrible and cruel act that went about breaking him of his former life and reforging him into a perfect weapon for the Sith. With stark realization, Diábolis thought of the strange cycle that must have existed since the time of Darth Bane, that the Sith perpetually abused and subjected their apprentices to greater depravity than they themselves had gone through, steadily finding and increasing the power of the next generation of Sith.

It was a self defeating system, and the fact that they had already achieved the goals of the Sith so soon after the Rule of Two's initiation, it ought to have shown the weakness of the Jedi and the strength of the Dark Side, but it hadn't.

For Diábolis, he felt that the Jedi and those still loyal to them had simply gone to ground, and that the true meaning of destroying the Jedi had to be on a more base level. The people of the Galaxy had to fear and hate the Jedi just as they now did the Sith. Any group or person that achieved more power than those around them gained a level of contempt, and Veneficus was no different.

If anything he had just magnified that hatred to the point where even those who had been most loyal were breaking away and departing from his plans and counsels. Diábolis was starting to become disillusioned from the idea that an Empire comprised of Force wielders was a set model for the rule of the Galaxy, and started in his own mind to form a new plan and idea to truly take command of the Galaxy.

To rule through sheer force of arms was one thing, but if he could magnify the power of the Force through himself, he might be able to rule the Galaxy through sheer willpower alone, commanding the Force to slaughter his enemies from worlds away and in essence being a single man army in regards to maintaining the order of the Galaxy as he so pleased. That would be true power, and something that Veneficus would need to be destroyed in order to achieve.


	25. C24: Baiting the Trap

**Many thanks to those who continue to review. I am pleased to announce that the writing and editing for the rest of story is completed, and there will be no interruptions (barring life threatening circumstance or accident) that will prevent us from the correct scheduled updates that I am sure you are all familiar with by now! As for what is to come next after all is said and posted. I will not be taking up another fanfiction project after this one, instead using the available time to begin work (finally) on an original work, which I hope to use to spur my writing to an entirely new level! Thanks to you all, and enjoy the chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Four**

 **Baiting the Trap**

Zhar turned away from the smoldering ruin of a once important governmental facility. It was clear from the choice of location, as well as the controlled burning that did not affect any of the nearby buildings, it was an intentional attack from internal forces. As the fire crews were finishing off the last of the embers, Zhar started back to his speeder.

There was a communication pinging to come through as he got in and took off back to the Imperial Palace. Activating the communicator, Zhar relaxed slightly as Euka appeared in the small hologram projector.

"Master, I have your second apprentice, and we are en route to Dromund Kaas to assist you in the various efforts of _reestablishing_ the Empire…" she said codedly.

"Very good, I have need of you both as soon as possible," Zhar replied honestly.

"Understood my Master, we will travel with all haste." Euka said, ending the communication as Zhar pulled in and settled down on the landing platform before the Sith Palace of Dromund Kaas.

Aside from a selection of aide and custodial servants the palace was empty, and Zhar had no wonder why that was. He had been more or less abandoned by those who wanted power for themselves. If it wasn't the symbol of the Imperial grandeur and power, he wouldn't have put it past those lesser prophets to attack or sabotage the palace itself.

But if Zhar had any skills of his own to speak of, it was making allies of the most unexpected sources; especially those that most Dark Adepts would consider far beneath them to even speak to, let alone work alongside.

Granted, while most of those that lived in New Kaas City were patrons of powerful Dark Adepts already, there were still a fair number of overlooked, worker-class beings that, if given the right incentives, would do Zhar's bidding.

Summoning a bounty hunter for a simple task of generating a list of those disaffected with their lot in life was child's play, and in time Zhar would know who he could manipulate into serving him behind the scenes.

"They've showed their hand," he said to himself, sitting in the Supreme Prophet's chambers, "but now it's time to play my game…"

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Fury sneered as he tossed aside another corpse, his latest victim, and strode forward. The corridor behind him was filled with bodies, all having been holed up in this place trying to override the destroyed escape doors that his forces had sealed.

It was all too easy at this point, mowing through the fools as they sought to flee from his wrath, as though they had any true means of escaping him. Fury knew that there were no competent warriors among them, and therefore were helpless before the warriors of the Wrathguard.

Still, in his anger, Fury had taken a few minor hits, stray blaster shots that caught him in the torso and arms as he butchered these pathetic opponents, but while his mechanical arm might need a few repairs later, he was more or less fine.

They had climbed halfway through the command center by now, and Fury was only somewhat surprised at the sheer number of enemies that were arrayed against them. To think that seizing an Imperial command center was their largest objective, betrayed a more serious outcropping of defection planet-wide.

Adding the armaments that these soldiers possessed, it was likely that they had some sort of financial backing, but Fury knew in the end it mattered little. He would see them all crushed underfoot and dragged back into the Empire that they so desperately thought to leave.

Turning the next corner, Fury blocked a pair of blaster shots that came at him, before lifting a hand. The offending trooper slammed into the ceiling with a tremendous crash, causing his allies to step back in a panic.

They didn't make it far, as from the other end the hulking form of Calamity, almost filling the corridor alone came barreling into them from the rear, his massive saber leaving score marks on the floor and ceiling as he swung it with abandon.

Fury sighed, bored with this task. If it had been up to him, he would have possibly preferred to bombard the center from orbit and annihilate all of his enemies in one fell swoop, but if they wished to retain power on the planet, the complex had to survive.

Symbolism was important to the rabble, and therefore he was to liberate it. Another squad on enemy soldiers appeared, and Fury pulled one with the Force into his blades, dismembering the fool in seconds.

A layer of blaster fire from his troopers mowed down the others before they even got to react.

"It's just too easy." He muttered to himself, marching through where the enemy had come. Dead imperial workers littered this room, clear victims of the rebel's wanton assault on the center.

Spotting a security terminal, Fury ordered one of his men to go see what they could do with it, whether the security turrets could be reactivated or whatever else was possible, while the rest secured the room."

It seemed that this was once an armory, but all the weapons were taken. No big surprise there, Fury guessed, but it was still a heavily fortified space that they could rest for a few moments before pushing on, and would work as an excellent choke point to hem the way of any escape from their attack.

"I want a full troop to remain here, slaughter anyone that attempts to escape," Fury ordered, before storming on ahead, alone.

He intentionally rounded several corners and ducked out of sight of the troopers, knowing that once they lost sight of him they would go about their orders without care of his whereabouts. That would permit the Marauder to, in the chaos, make his way up to the very top of the command structure and eliminate those who were in charge. Ending this conflict quickly was much preferable to Fury than continuing to wade through grunts and lackeys that posed no real threat to him.

To that effect, he found a secured little cupboard of a room, and started to cut his way through the ceiling. So long as he was still in the interior of the complex, the metal flooring would be relatively thin, and within minutes he had a man-sized hole into another corridor on the floor above.

Sheathing his sabers and leaping up, Fury looked around swiftly as he landed. There were troops running around corners, trying to make their stand against his troopers coming from the more conventional pathways, but none had noticed his arrival. Rather than waste time eliminating them, Fury ducked around the other way.

He knew that the lifts were likely powered down, and therefore the shafts would be the perfect means of getting the rest of the way to the top. Finding the nearest one, the human cyborg used the Force to heave the doors open, darting inside and allowing the highly pressurized doors to slam shut behind him.

Gripping the side of the near smooth shaft with his mechanical hand, Fury took only one moment to glance downward at the steep drop, and started to climb. It seemed that the unpowered lift was at the top floor, about seven or more floors above where he had entered. Likely it was positioned there if the leaders of this pitiful rebellion had to escape, then they would just pile in reactivate power and jump to the bottom floor.

Likely they were even now planning that very means of escape from his forces, but Fury was going to prevent that route.

Just under the carriage of the lift, Fury let go with his flesh arm and drew a saber once more. The carriage was something more durable than the flooring before, and it took a bit of doing, but eventually there was a small hole for the Marauder to drawl through into the lift proper.

Through the door, he could hear the excited muttering of the occupants of the main chamber. They were clearly watching the advancing forces through the security cameras, but Fury was certain that his man operating the armory console would have blinded them for that floor at the least, which meant that his presence here was unknown to the fools.

"That massive beast is breaking our formation again," one of them shouted, clear enough for even Fury to make out.

Smirking in the darkness of the unpowered lift, he thought of how impressive Calamity must be to these sorts of beings. Very few had ever met the trolls of Veneficus' home world, and little would ever again as the planet was now a smoking husk. The brute strength alone was not overly impressive, considering the beast that existed in the Galaxy, but the fact that Calamity could wield the Force as well made him highly unique in the terms of monsters.

"The turrets are set up on the floor below us," another figure said, seeming to ruin into the room beyond the lift, "We will know when they are below us… is the data transfer completed yet?"

"Almost," another said, "Shade will be most pleased that we have gathered all the intel that he required of us."

Fury narrowed his eyes. He knew of the mysterious operative that skulked through the back alleys of the Empire, feeding information to the rebellion and turning loyal members of society against the Emperor.

This entire operation suddenly became far more enticing for the Marauder. Unwilling to wait for them to come to him any longer, Fury activate both his sabers, and plunged them into the door of the lift, enjoying the gasps of shock from the other side of the room as he cut his way in.

There were twelve leaders in all, of various races. "I will give you all one chance…" Fury said slowly, stepping through the scorched hole in the door and looking over their horrified faces, "give me the information I desire regarding Shade, and perhaps I will let some of you live…"

The nearest looked at each other, as though trying to decide how best to respond, when the one at the far terminal slammed his hand on a button, which cut all power to the building and they tried to scatter. The red beams of Fury's weapons rose in answer as a tidal wave of lethality.

Within seconds all were butchered except the one who cut the power. By the time emergency power activated, Fury was standing over the man, sabers aimed at his throat as the human backed himself into a wall.

"Thank you for making it easy who would live and who would die," Fury said casually, "now tell me what I want to know, before I lose patience…"

"It's too late," the man replied, showing that out of all twelve, he was one of the few that had a spine, "Shade already knows were compromised, and the last of the data he wanted has already transmitted. I'll die before I tell you anything, and you'll likely kill me regardless."

"But there is one thing you've overlooked in your superiority…" Fury said, hissing as he slowly pushed one of his blades into the man's shoulder, releasing the scream that was bottled in the human's throat. "How painful of a death it will be…"

But the man was too concerned with screaming to even bother acknowledging what Fury had implied.

It took Calamity and the others nearly an hour to beat their way through the rank and file and reach the room where Fury and his victim were. By then the man was reduced to a sobbing mess, and Fury had what information he sought, pitifully little though it was.

Shade managed to keep his tracks covered well, if what the bloody and quite now dead rebel had to say was true, but he did spill what the information that the operative wanted was. Now it was just a matter of deciphering why the rebels wanted the position and routes of the Imperial fleets.

Was it to navigate around them, or ambush them? There were many questions to ask, and even if they figured out the motive, there were many targets to choose from, and how were they to figure out where to go to catch the rebels in the act.

"I want this information analyzed." Fury said, indicating the screen of fleet coordinates and flight paths, "the rebels seek to use it against us somehow, and I want us to be there when they make their move."

"Yes, my Lord," the technician said, scrambling for the console and starting to enter commands to copy the records for their own use.

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Veneficus departed Krayiss Two in a solemn mood. Vitiate had told him everything regarding the means that he had become immortal, after a fashion, after some persuading from a stronger Sith Lord.

Amusingly, the same level of destruction that the former Emperor had to sink to was not a problem for Veneficus. There had conveniently been created a nexus of Force energy so powerful that he would be able to siphon it instead of a planet's worth of Force users to power the ritual.

There were many things he had to gather for such an endeavor however, and the timing had to be just right. It wouldn't do for this ritual to take place at the same time that his enemies made their move.

The rebels were seeking information about the whereabouts of his fleets, and while high ranking members of the Imperial hierarchy were at each other's throats, Veneficus wouldn't be surprised if his own apprentice was starting to make a bid for power himself. Surprisingly the young Devaronian had thus far escaped the Emperor's notice, which was a testament to the cunning and power of the Force that had drawn Veneficus to selecting Diábolis as his apprentice over other candidates.

Still, that foresight was now proving to be a detriment to the end of the grand design, wherein Veneficus ruled the galaxy with an iron fist for all time.

Ordering his pilot to return to Coruscant, Veneficus wondered if the apprentice was monitoring the movements of his master. Had the positions been reversed, Veneficus would have made that his top priority.

Still, it mattered little. With a plan now in motion to achieve his fondest desire, Veneficus would become immortal and therefore invincible at long last. Even death would bow before his rule.

In his personal chamber, the Sith Lord allowed himself to daze into a Force-based trance, pulling at the edges of consciousness to account for everything he needed. "The scepter is the key," he murmured to himself, focusing on the horned staff of Marka Ragnos, the storage system that would channel all the power he needed to live forevermore.

Generations had been preparing for this precise moment, and it was he, Darth Veneficus, who would succeed where all others had failed. He would surpass the limitations of the Force and gain mastery over all things. With time immortal he would discover and perfect every secret of the Force, bend who systems to his will, and even discover what lay beyond the farthest reaches of the Galaxy.

The future was bright with possibility, so long as he succeeded in this one thing. Transcending death was the path, and the power of the Force through the Valley of the Jedi was the key to open that particular lock.

"Only I will live forever…" Veneficus hissed as his mind flowed to the farthest reaches of the Empire, allowing his vision to see those enemies that were moving against this plan.

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Severus was uneasy with how quickly Shade reported back with the information they wanted regarding the Imperial fleets. "I have my contacts," the man said, appearing in person to deliver them. It was a large step toward gaining Severus' trust, returning when he knew that they wanted to contain him, but he would withhold his judgment until after the first few fleets were eliminated or captured.

"The team was compromised as they were stealing this information," the operative explained as Severus and Granger glanced through the long list of coordinates, "the Empire will know what they were stealing, but now how we intend to use it. Caution is the best policy we have right now, to throw them off what we intend."

"We will take your words into consideration," Granger replied, although Severus could see that she was thinking ahead already, probably to who to put in charge of the attacks.

Meteor would likely want to charge in first as part of the attack group, but Severus was unsure who would be the best fit to head up the attack force to capture their first magi-tech fleet. Unfortunately, they had to risk many of their technicians to make sure this first operation went smoothly.

"I will lead the technical side of the infiltration team," she said, and Severus whirled around in shock.

"Absolutely not!" he said sternly, "you're far too valuable to the Rebellion to risk on a single mission."

"Severus…" Ms. Granger said, and her voice was strained, as though she had been expecting his protest. "I haven't shared this with anyone, but the ships are coded to my master command alone. None of the other techs _can_ hijack one of those ships without my magical signature to activate the override."

Severus froze, one eye twitching as he struggle to control the rage that threatened to overflow as his mind tried to process the absurdity that he was hearing.

Granger said nothing, seeming to know that Severus had no argument left against her, even if he was extremely angered by the resoluteness of the issue.

"You will have an armed guard, and several Jedi with you at all times," Severus finally said, forcibly controlling his voice to keep from shouting.

"I understand, in addition I have several devices and safeguards in place that I've been saving for just such an occasion arose." Granger replied.

Severus didn't like it, but agreed, watching as Granger took Shade and departed for the war room. He would join them there shortly, but he needed a few moments to blow off steam. Flicking his wand, he conjured unassuming blocks of stone and metal, before lashing out with his power, devastating them all with a childish explosion of spells and devastation.

It was so clearly a plot to trap them, and the danger of using the Seer's Stone clearly was blinding Granger to the threat that going out herself posed. If his potions weren't already at a dangerous stage of their brewing that needed constant monitoring, Severus would have demanded to go with her, but that simply was not possible, which infuriated him all the more.

Calming somewhat from venting his pent up anger, Severus banished the rubble and scrap remains of his targets before stowing his wand and following the pair to the conference of the leaders on the two central Rebellion planets.

"So we are in agreement then?" Granger was saying, and from the grim looks on the other faces, both on screen and in the room, Severus could tell that she had already showcased her plan to lead the assault herself.

"While I do not like the idea of you going along with this raid, as dangerous as it may be, I feel that it is an acceptable plan. With proper security for yourself we can see a surprising victory against the Empire," Jedi Master Berethon stated.

"I agree," Granger replied humbly. "I understand that this decision to join the attack myself is seen with trepidation, but I assure you that to make sure that our plan goes as smoothly as possible it is required. I will accept whatever reasonable security detail is required of me for the duration of this mission."

Severus tuned out the chatter of the others as they were consulting on whom and how many of Granger's guard would consist of. He was far more interested in watching the faces of those other leaders, just on the off chance that he might spot something that was betrayed by the news of this radical move. He did not see anything that stood out to him, although his mind was constantly focused on keeping Shade in his view, just in case the operative chose to betray them publically.

In the end, the others agreed that, along with a small contingent of Jedi, Granger would travel with Havoc Squad on their capital ship for the duration of their mission, until she was needed to override the tech of the Imperial ships.

The subject then turned to which fleet would be the easiest target for them to launch their first raid upon, and make sure that they were able to capture the ships rather than just destroy them.

Filius and Weasley thought that one of the fleets further to the south in the Galaxy would be better placed, as it would be more remote from the main Imperial force. Meteor argued that striking closer to the heart of the Empire would send a clearer message that they were a threat to their enemies, and Jedi Berethor favored a more moderate option, staying away from the main core of the Empire, but close enough to make a statement.

Severus agreed with Filius and Admiral Weasley, but Granger sided with Meteor, and in the end the votes between them sided with the Director as well.

"There is a fleet that will be passing by the Ithor system in a few weeks time," Shade suggested, holding up the datapad with the information, "just outside the fringe of the core Imperial worlds, and yet deep in their territory. It is also a world of peace, which would be useful in sending a message that we seek to restore the peace of the Republic."

"I find that system agreeable," Meteor said, and slowly the others in the council agreed one by one.

Severus had another flash of unease, but he had no recourse to dispute the choice of world. It was a prime location after all.

"It's settled then," Granger said, calling them all to order, "we will attack the fleet over Ithor in a few weeks, ready our forces, and within the day I will head back to Bakura for the rendezvous with the rest of the fleet."

"We will await your arrival, Director," Meteor stated, before cutting his communication. The others nodded, affirming their commitments and departed as well.

"I will select the very best of our Jedi Knights to accompany you, Commander Granger, they will be ready before you leave," Jedi Lord Berethor stated, turning his chair and hovering away back toward the Jedi compound.

"Thank you," Granger told the Jedi Lord, and turned to Shade, "I'm taking you as well…"

"As you wish…" the Operative replied, and although Severus was against incorporating the unknown, potential threat, it was clear that the Director was hearing nothing regarding divergent opinions on the matter.

"Be safe, above all else… no risks," he said to her privately, and returned quickly to his lab as a small alarm told him it was time to add a new ingredient.

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Diábolis couldn't be more pleased with what his spy had to tell him. The Ithor system was where the rebels planned to attack, more to the point the very leader and most powerful of their magi-technomancers would be present. An ideal target for the Sith Lord to capture for his uses... Naturally, he would allow them to take one of Veneficus' fleets in exchange, but the trick would be bypassing the intense guard that the woman would have and getting her out of the system swiftly.

Sending his orders to Kelrek to prepare a counter ambush, Diábolis made sure that the admiral of his own fleet kept them near enough to the Galactic Core so that they could dart back to Coruscant and fulfill the purpose of capturing such a prominent rebel as swiftly as possible.

He could sense that Veneficus was already back on that world, and wondered how difficult it would be to smuggle such a well known figure to the Sith's past under his nose without detection. It would require intense patience to slip under his foresight in this matter.

If he had the power to cause a little more chaos elsewhere in the galaxy to distract his master, he would have committed troops to it, but there was nothing he could do at the present time.

His personal communicator chimed, and Diábolis paused. There were only a scant handful of individuals that knew how to reach him so personally, and the Emperor was one of them. Hesitating only a moment, he answered it, preparing for the worst.

When the veiled face of a Mecrosa Order assassin appeared, he relaxed partially, although still very much confused. "How did you get this comlink channel?" he demanded of the shrouded female.

"We have our way, Lord…" the woman replied, without saying anything else regarding the means that they reached out to him. "We've had a vision that our assistance would be needful."

Diábolis thought about that fact. He hadn't given much thought to the assassin order in a while, too wrapped up in preparing everything very slowly to defeat his master, but in hindsight their use would have been very much in his favor.

"I do have need of your warriors…" he realized aloud, his mind wheeling with the newly remembered possibilities.

"You need only to command us, and we will move by your will…" the woman replied.

"I need to large teams, one to wait on Coruscant for my arrival, and the other to go to the Ithor system, and capture an important figure during the ensuing battle in a few weeks time," Diábolis explained quickly, "there is a delicate aspect to that objective, and timing is everything."

"We will do whatsoever you require, in exactness." The woman replied obediently.

Diábolis smirked. This was more than he could have hoped for from Kelrek, who was clearly aiding him for personal glory and selfish interest. And while the Sorcerer was still useful, having added insurance that Diábolis' will came out ahead was going to be most welcome.

Checking to make sure that his chambers were secure, he elaborated in length of his exact instructions regarding the capture of the leader of the rebellion, and her special delivery to Diábolis' flagship.

He also made sure to instruct them to kill as few of the rebels as they could, as it wouldn't be good if they were crushed or failed to make themselves the thorn in the side of Veneficus that Diábolis needed to distract him from the more effective movements that the Sith apprentice strove toward in dethroning the Emperor.

"We understand, and will commit our very best toward this assignment. You will have your prize within a week of the appointed attack," the woman responded submissively.

Diábolis closed the communication, letting the new plan fall into place within his grand design. He would be able to use the assassin's as a distraction for Veneficus when he infiltrated the Coruscant palace once again, dragging the rebel leader to the sealed chamber that held the final piece of the puzzle for overthrowing his master.

Yes, everything was falling into place at last, and once an opening presented itself, the Force sword would find its place in the heart of Darth Veneficus.

Diábolis smirked as he sat back in his chair, relishing a plan moving ever so steadily toward his victory, and the revenge against the one man that had singlehanded cursed his life with this gift of darkness.

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Ist was not terribly surprised to find that she was handpicked to be part of the guard for Director Granger as they set out on their first mission to capture an Imperial fleet for their own use.

She was surprised however, to find that Shade was waiting for them in the shuttle alongside the Director. The helmeted operative turned to acknowledge the Jedi's approach, and the others who were serving alongside Ist paused. She knew it was because they could not sense the mysterious man through the Force, but she knew that he was trustworthy.

"Operative, glad to see you again…" she said, nodding in greeting.

"And you as well, little Jedi, I heard that you found something of value on Dathomir." Shade replied.

Ist said nothing more, but smiled softly, knowing that her meeting with Jedi Master Lovegood had been all because of the urging of this man, and was grateful for that pressure to do so.

"We are all assembled," Hermione said at that time, turning away from a portable console that was displaying highly complicated equations and symbols that even Ist had no idea what meant. "Shall we get underway with the rendezvous?"

"At your command, Director," the masked man replied, and Ist noticed the momentary frown on the face of the supreme commander of the rebellion, but it was whisked away in an instant. Pressing a small button on her communicator, Director Granger moved to sit in one of the seats as the shuttle slowly shuddered in its pre-takeoff preparations.

Within minutes they had lifted off and were heading for the outer atmosphere.

The filled the time as the shuttle hurtled through Light Speed with small talk. The Director was curious as to what the rest of the Jedi had been training in, and while the others were uncomfortable with discussing Jedi-related topics with their benefactor, Ist was perfectly willing to divulge that they had been training hard to go toe-to-toe with the Dark Adepts of the Empire, as well as preparing for the possibly confrontation with one of the two Sith Lords if they made an appearance.

"I certain hope that is not the case so early in our fight," Hermione stated, "but I am glad that someone is thinking that far ahead. There is so much to plan just to get to a point to fight against Harry directly that I put little thought to what we'd do once we got to that point."

"I feel certain that, as we grow closer to that moment, you'll think of something brilliant," Shade said, and although his words were complimentary, Ist could help but sense the hint of animosity that went between the Director for the master operative.

Just what was going on between them, she wondered.

They fell into an uneasy silence, as Hermione started elaborating on her plan, what they needed to do and how they would take command of the Imperial vessels that they boarded.

"Of course ill need to know what ships we have from Meteor's fleet before we plan how exactly we will slip aboard the ships, but I suspect we will be pleasantly surprised with what there is to work with," she said just as they exited Hyperspace over Bakura.

The fleet was there waiting for them, and Ist had to say she was impressed with the collection of ships that had been amassed for this critical strike. "There has to be at least thirty or forty ships here," one of the other Jedi said, amazed.

The command vessel seemed to be a retrofitted cruiser from the Neo-Sith war, and the shuttle made a beeline for it as a communication welcoming them came through in the cockpit.

By the time they landed, there was already a large group of rebel soldiers lined up to welcome their leader on board and escort her to the bridge as the entire fleet made preparations for the jump to Light Speed.

Ist was about to follow the rest of their party and get a good look at the interior of the ship, when a hand on her shoulder held her back. "A moment please, Jedi," Shade said, hanging back.

"I need you to watch the Director closely during the coming conflict," he said, and Ist listened with a suspicious ear.

"I have a feeling that something is going to happen, and many of the leaders were very disturbed to learn that she was going to come here at all. She needs all the protection that she can get. Constant vigilance..."

"I understand…" Ist replied, pulling away slowly and turning to catch up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelrek nodded at the encoded text that he was sent to him by Lord Diábolis.

Ithor was their target. Making sure to let the others know their new objective, the Sorcerer retired to his meditation chamber, unwilling to hear the protests of his fellow Adepts over their following of Diábolis' orders.

The other seemed to lack the foresight to sense the direction that the flow of power in the Empire was turning, and thought that the Emperor's will was absolute.

They were showing themselves to be fools, and Kelrek was getting fed up with the constant attachment that was formed between them in the eyes of the rest of the Empire. As soon as he could break away from these two binding him down, he would do so immediately.

This battle would be the perfect opportunity to prove himself above the others and distinguish himself as excellent without the need for the others to watch his back at all times.

"Kelrek you're not going to escape this discussion," Jennah said, storming into his private quarters with all the air of her authority.

Kelrek turned away to cover his sneer at her overbearing attitude. "We have been commanded to hunt the rebels. I don't see what the problem is with assisting Lord Diábolis with his objectives at the same time…" he said.

"You have to sense that there is something not right about what the Sith is up to…" Srilis added, appearing out on thin air nearby. Kelrek hated when the Stalker would do that, but refused to allow it to show on his face.

"It doesn't matter what he's up do," Kelrek challenged back, "It has nothing to concern us with us; we are only to obey whatsoever we are commanded to do if it furthers the goals of the Empire."

The others exchanged a glance between them, and saw that arguing with Kelrek on this matter was fruitless, and finally left him be. Reaching out to sense their emotions as they departed, Kelrek sensed the hostility and irritation that they felt for him. And for what it was, he didn't care anymore.

Once he was done with them, they would be cast aside, and Kelrek was determined to advance in the ranks of the Galaxy. With how much into the inner circle of Lord Diábolis he was, Kelrek wouldn't be surprised if the Devaronian was considering him as the new Sith Apprentice.

Returning to the encrypted message that he had hidden swiftly when the others had arrived to annoy him, he imputed a quick reply.

' _Commands understood; we are en route immediately._ '

Quickly shutting down the console afterward, the Sorcerer set himself into a meditative trance, channeling his hatred for all the things holding him back, and turning that emotion into power.

They had several hours left before they reached their ambush point, and there they would wait until the right moment. From there it would be a short jaunt to Ithor and the battle that was sure to start. It was impressive that Diábolis was able to give them nearly the exact time for them to attack.

The fact that the Sith Lord had managed to get a spy into the ranks of the rebels was a testament to his effectiveness, and the power that the Devaronian had over even the Emperor, who didn't even care enough to acknowledge the danger of the rebels, let alone do something about them himself.

All the more reason for Kelrek to continue side with the Sith apprentice. He was indeed the future of the Empire, and the Sorcerer would betray everything in order to make sure that he was on the right side of history once the inevitable battle between the two Sith began.


	26. C25: Battle Over Ithor

**A day late, but not a dollar short! Much had demanded my attention, and I lost track of what I had done or not done yesterday, my bad. but we are here, and I hope that you enjoy! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Five**

 **Battle Over Ithor**

Despite the inherent danger of the mission they were on, Hermione was actually somewhat excited to be out in the field once again. She may have had a stifling cadre of guards with her at all times, and outside her personal quarters when she wasn't about on the ship, but it wasn't that big a deal.

The fleet sped along swiftly toward Ithor, well within the time needed to intercept the fleet that would be docking there and holding in orbit while troops and supplies were shuttled down to the planet.

It meant that the fleet would be easily ambushed, and they would have plenty of time to initiate their strike before the Imperials rallied a defense to try and stop them. Hermione planned to be on one of the lead boarding shuttles for the command cruiser, and hack into the system within moments of setting foot on the ship.

If all went as she hoped, they would seize control of the command ship without even setting foot on the bridge, and she could remote hack the lesser ships one by one with a powerful new AI virus that she had modified to specifically target systems that she had used back in the war.

Adding to that her mechanical forces that were stored in the cargo hold of Havoc Squad's command cruiser, and Hermione felt confident that she could control multiple large ships in tandem.

There were risks with this plan, to be sure, but Hermione felt that keeping their one wild card, Shade, close to her, it would forestall any potential betrayal by the ex-Imperial guard.

Adding to that the dozen Jedi Knights that were with her, it was unlikely that she would be stopped before seizing at least the first fleet, even if the virus failed in its design. There was the chance that Veneficus modified her old codes and tech when he built his grand armada, but Hermione doubted it from the reports on the attack on the space station.

This Star Forge that they mentioned seemed to only reproduce exactly what it was programmed to, not modify and customize the thing produced by it. It was a good chance that nothing of her original internal designs was altered, and she would have free reign to control and redirect every automated part of any ship in the Empire.

"We have six hours left until the exit from Hyperspace." Meteor said over the ship-wide intercom, "make you last preparations now; all troops battle stations!"

"So it begins…" Hermione said, mentally calculating where and what she needed to gather for her attack. It all was prepared, and her shuttle was loaded, it was just down to what to bring on her person.

Striding around her personal cabin, she quickly ran through a checklist of what she might need in her mind. Blasters, all three different ones; grenades and mines, which she custom built; and an entire tool belt of gadgets, all for the purpose of cracking any security that they might encounter.

"Are you sure that it will be enough?" Shade asked, from his place at the doorway, flanked by two silent Jedi Knights.

"It has to be," Hermione replied, stifling her irritation at the Blaise clone. She wasn't angry at him, so to speak, but more upset that the person behind the mask was a clone and not the real Blaise, who had to have been killed when New Terra was destroyed by the Empire. She was furious at Harry for doing such a thing to anyone, especially someone who from what distant memories she recalled, had been romantically attached to the young man.

The tragedy of that Slytherin, wanting to be close to someone so dangerous and evil… then again, Draco and many others had suffered the same fate. Even Luna, who had for such a long time evaded the wrath of the now self proclaimed Emperor, had perished, leaving Hermione feeling alone of their generation to face off against this evil. Sure there were others, the scant few Hogwarts students who had been rescued along with Professor Flitwick and Snape, but there were next to none of their people left.

Veneficus had ushered a full genocide on his entire race, all for power. It was sick, and Hermione was filled to the brim with anger and rage at the man for this affront on everything that had been the magical world.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and she turned to see that Shade had moved next to her, clearly sensing her turmoil in the Force, "We will stop him… somehow… I swear it."

Hermione nodded. She could see the sincerity in the clone's words, something that not even Professor Snape could sense. This man was not the traitor in their midst, and yet he was the closest one they had to the way an Imperial might think, and therefore he was supremely valuable.

"It's time to depart, Director," one of the Jedi said respectfully.

Hermione nodded, stuffing her feelings down deep once again as she strapped her primary blaster to her hip and threw a shielding cloak around her shoulders. "Then let's get this over with," she replied, leading the way for the group of four down to the hangar, where their shuttle awaited.

The first wave of shuttles was there and prepared; six shuttles with all the assault forces they would need, along with Hermione and her guard. Strapped in to her seat and waiting for the green light that indicated the start of their attack, Hermione felt her heart start to pound.

This was the first strategic military event that she had participated in since the climax of the Neo-Sith War, and she was well aware of her age at this point. She was not as quick as she used to be, and it was a worry that she had.

"T-minus twenty minutes until exiting from Hyperspace," the automated voice declared over the entire hangar. The shuttles started prepping their engines and lifted their boarding ramps.

"May the Force be with us," Meteor's voice came over the intercom for the shuttles. The man was personally leading the boarding along with his elite troopers. Hermione had been surprised at that, but at the same time it made sense. Havoc Squad worked so closely in tandem that it would hinder them very little to have their leader in the field.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the time ticked down. With a shudder, Hermione felt the entire cruiser pulled out of Hyperspace, and knew that they were in range.

"Launch fighters, first wave of shuttles you are cleared for takeoff!" Meteor ordered.

The lights darkened in the shuttle area, switching to the red auxiliary power as everything went into the engines and shields. They lifted off, and through the small view screen, Hermione watched the cruiser fall away as they sped out into open space.

Her anxiety cropped up slightly as she saw the first hastily scrambled wave of Sith fighters start to dogfight with their own, but she was pleased to note that theirs, which she had been ruthlessly upgrading with whatever she could get her hands on, seemed to have the edge in the battle.

"Prepare docking procedures!" the pilot of their shuttle declared, and Hermione wondered how close they had pulled from Hyperspace to their target. It did not seem that they had been in open space for long, and nothing had even shot at them. It seemed far too simple.

The view of the blackness of space was obstructed by the steel-grey of the interior of a ship, and everyone in the hold removed their straps and got weaponry ready. It wasn't too likely that they'd meet heavy resistance, but Hermione was unwilling to risk anything at this point.

Everything went dark for a moment, and then the lights flooded on, and the ramp dropped like a stone. In a flash, six lightsabers flared to life and the Jedi guard poured out of the shuttle, spreading in a wedge formation and deflecting the scant blaster fire that was shot at their group.

Hermione scrambled to keep up with her guard, eyes peeled for a console to hack into. The other shuttles had all made it as well, and their occupants were moving to contain the area. Meteor was taking point as they charged the exit of the hangar, clearly to set up a boundary between them and the defenders of the ship.

Hermione spotted a console off to the side, clearly one that controlled the locks for the fighters still in the berths here, but it would still be connected to the overarching network. Running for the console, she pulled out the small drive that contained her virus.

The Jedi swarmed around her in a protective phalanx while she worked, inserting the drive into the astromech port and typing furiously. The drive spun a few times, mimicking the actions of a droid in order to fool the system into ignoring it.

Only a few moments, and she was into the central nervous system of the ship. Hermione smirked. Everything was as she had designed, not a single piece of code out of place or altered. "Uploading the virus now," she declared, typing out the commands.

A smooth bar started to fill, indicating the upload, and within moments she was in, and the virus started its work, tricking the system into believing that the console Hermione was using was the chief command console for the ship, and denying access to all others across the cruiser, started at the bridge.

Normally this would be a direly dangerous move, but Hermione knew these ships inside and out, and could automate many of the systems to function without external observation like life support. Meanwhile the important system: engines and weapons would fall directly under her control, and she would be able to change the course of the ship, and attack their enemies even as they worked to clear out the rest of the ship from Imperial control.

Even more importantly, she would have access to the communication array, and thereby transmit her virus to every nearby ship. The only limitation would be the capacity of the console that she was using, which arguable was a lot. To counter this, she pulled from an extended pouch at her waist a portable tablet, which would operate on a much more complex level than the low level maintenance console that she had selected to upload her virus through.

Soon enough, the virus started returning information to her, secure codes and access to smaller systems that wouldn't be noticed immediately. Hermione sorted through them quickly, mostly setting them to autonomous processes, and keeping the status quo going. Her legs started to get tired, and she hooked her tablet into the consol and sat upon the cool metal deck, watching the numbers and strings of code fly across the screen.

The ship rocked a few times when shots from the battle outside hit it, but Hermione scarcely noticed, being completely focused on the screen in front of her. "We have the communication array and the sensors," she declared, quickly taking control and eavesdropping on the Imperial chatter. She typed out the command for the virus to propagate and infect every large ship in the fleet. Once infected it would only be a matter of time before she controlled every ship in of the Imperial side.

"Sending out the order for fighters to recall to their cruisers," she informed those around her, sending out the command and using the recordings of the lead commander of the Imperial to relay it. Most beings seemed to heavily underestimate what the ships around them keep records of, and that was all ammunition for Hermione to make use of.

"I sense something…" Ist said near to Hermione, and all of the Jedi snapped to full readiness, sabers in hand and watching the hangar around them.

"Another fleet is entering the battle," Hermione said, somewhat annoyed at the interruption, but elated at the idea of sending another batch of the virus out to take control of a second fleet.

"Watch out!" one of the Jedi said, and Hermione's head snapped up as several black-clothed figured leapt down from the railings and catwalks above them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelrek stood on the bridge of their command ship as they pulled out of Hyperspace. The rebels were there, just as Lord Diábolis had said, attacking the fleet over Ithor when most of the soldiers were planet side for their rotational training.

"Launch fighters, and prepare a batch of shuttles to board the other Imperial command cruiser," Kelrek ordered, surprising both of his companions.

"Why would we board one of ours?" Jennah asked.

"Because that is where the main force of the rebels is," Kelrek said, allowing them to think he sensed it through the Force instead of having prior knowledge of the rebel's scheme.

"Do it," Jennah said to the commanding officer, enforcing the orders that Kelrek had already stated, which added to the frustration that the Sorcerer felt. He had no official control of the fleet, merely an advisor to Jennah who was the true authority in the fleet.

"I can sense Jedi…" Srilis said, eagerness in her voice.

"We ought to take the lead and counter them while our troopers handle their other forces," Kelrek suggested, knowing that they would be needed to stop the large Jedi guard of the rebel leader that they needed to capture.

"I agree," Jennah replied, ordering for a shuttle to be prepared for the three of them, along with their elite forces to counter the boarders.

Kelrek suppressed his smirk as he followed them to the hangar. This was the exact thing that he needed to show his worth to Diábolis. If he captured the rebel himself, defeating a large number of Jedi and possibly losing his unneeded baggage of companions at long last, he might at last be accepted by the Sith Lord as a worthy apprentice, or at least a trustworthy assistant.

The elite guard was ready by the time they arrived, and the shuttle launched without issue into the hastily escalating battle, with a full wing of fighters as escort.

"We will need to capture their leader," Kelrek said, "it would be wise to learn more of the rebels' secrets through a high level prisoner."

"I agree," Jennah said, turning to Srilis, "can you engage the Jedi guard by surprise so that we can isolate and capture the leader while still slaughtering the Jedi."

"It would be my pleasure," Srilis said, fingering her double bladed lightsaber as she tapped a foot in suppressed excitement for the sense of battle that was to come.

Fighters swarmed over them as they flew toward the other Imperial cruiser, slowly forcing their own escort to peel away and engage them. But the truly frightening moment was just before the shuttle arrived at the hangar entrance, when the entire cruiser started to turn sharply, narrowing their point of entry and focusing its cannons on the allied ship.

"They've taken command of the vessel," Jennah said, even as their shuttle had to veer away from the ship to avoid collision.

"We need to get in there and stop them," Kelrek demanded of the pilot, "turn about and prepare for a hot landing."

"Yes my Lord," the pilot replied, obey quickly. The shuttle lopped as quickly as it could, diving straight for the hangar, wherein Kelrek could already see the flash of Jedi lightsabers as they faced off against some opponents in black. He presumed that it was the remaining Dark Adepts from the other ship, and put them from his mind.

The shuttle barreled into the hangar, seeking for a clear landing spot among the others that the rebels must have taken to get here, and the three Dark Adepts leapt out before the shuttle had even fully landed.

His crossguard saber flared to life, and Kelrek started toward the knot of fighting Jedi, casually batting aside a couple of blaster bolts from the positioned rebel sharpshooters. Responding with a burst of lightning, he relished the scream as one of the troopers fell from the catwalk to their death on the cold deck of the hangar.

Srilis vanished, fading into the chaos to flank the Jedi and unleash chaos into their ranks, while Jennah activated her dual blades and charged. Looking over the combat ahead, Kelrek was puzzled by the other assailants of the Jedi. The black leather armor and cruel looking vibroblades were unknown to him, as well as the keen acrobatic skills while lacking any notion of the power of the Force within them.

Apparently Diábolis sent some insurance to make sure that Kelrek did not fail him. Gritting his teeth slightly, Kelrek stormed forward, ready to prove that he needed no help in fulfilling the wishes on his future master.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist parried the sharp blade of one of the strangely dressed assassins, when she felt the presence of the Dark Side start to swell. "More incoming!" she shouted, signaling to the Jedi that their true opponents had arrived.

A shuttle sped through the air of the hangar, and three figures leapt from the opening ramp as it passed, red blades igniting.

Ist recognized the iconic Trio, three powerful Dark Adepts that had together won many battles and crushed their opposition ruthlessly through their combination of abilities. Contenting with them as well as these powerful assassins was going to be a challenge.

Director Granger was still hard at work operating her portable console, hijacking the ships around them and turning this fleet against the other that had arrived, but she quickly pressed a button on a wrist-mounted communication device. With several loud metallic clunks, compartments opened on all the rebel shuttles, and war droids launched out from them, blasters and lightsabers attached to their limbs as they rushed to reinforce the Jedi.

Ist dodged back as her own opponent was forced to withdraw from an attacking war droid. The Bothan Jedi sheathed her blade and concentrated on the Force, allowing it to flow through her completely. A massive burst of energy flew in all directions, and all those not prepared for it were thrown backward. The Jedi and Dark Adepts sensed it, and the droids and Director Granger were already magnetized to the floor.

The assassins however were thrown around like dust on the wind, scattering their overwhelming attack and allowing the Jedi to recover themselves and prepare for the larger threat. The leader of the Trio, the dual wielding Marauder charged in, and three Jedi Knights took to confronting her, their green and blue blades clashing violently with her red ones.

Ist heard a noise above them, and glanced up to see the second, with her double-bladed lightsaber dropping down into the midst of the remaining Jedi, and the other Jedi turned to face off against her devastating weapon.

A blast of Force energy turned Ist once more to the last of the Trio, the infamous Sorcerer, as he gloatingly shot at their troopers with lightning. His crossguard saber was of an ancient design, but the man swung it effortlessly as he stalked forward. Igniting her yellow blade, Ist stood to challenge him alone.

"Brave of you, young Jedi, to face me alone," the man said casually, before rushing her, swinging the massive weapon in an attempt to shake her nerves. But Ist was resolute, and parried the wild swing with a deft flick of her wrist.

"from what I've seen, there isn't much left to fear…" she replied coolly, before switching from defense to attack, and jabbed three times in quick succession, from the man's face to his left knee and back to his right shoulder.

The Sorcerer fell back, swatting her blade with his larger weapon, and Ist understood the flaw of his weapon. The crossguard was useful for intimidation, but the archaic weapon was terrible for lightsaber to lightsaber fighting. Likely it was the reason anciently that Makashi was invented, and Ist was more than ready to employ that style here and now.

Settling into a traditional stance, she advanced, alternating her blows from extremity to extremity, keeping her opponents blade moving the entire distance of his body over and over in effort to tire him, while keeping minimal movement in her own body to conserve energy.

At first, she started to gain a great deal of ground, pushing the Sorcerer well away from his allies, but the man ducked back from one of her thrusts with a smirk. Ist realized that he had allowed her to have the offensive advantage for that time being, as he wanted to separate her from her allies as well.

The split second crackle was the only warning she got before lightning flared out from the man's outstretched fingertips. Pain surged through her for her mistake, and she staggered back several steps and fell to one knee, trying to push through the pain and keep her weapon up. The force of the attack was pushing her arm down to prevent her from absorbing the bolts with the yellow blade, even as the man staked forward with his own saber.

"Weak… just as the Jedi always were…" he taunted.

Ist reached down deep into herself, trying to follow her master's old instruction, and find the calm center within the storm, the one place that could not be touched by the jarring sensation of every nerve flaring at once. She felt the pain start to din, still very much present, but diluted as she focused on other events.

Opening her eyes as she found the center of the Force within her, she rose, startling the Sorcerer. With a calm flick of her write, her saber swung through the bolts, intercepting and attracting them to the energized blade and away from Ist herself.

"Through the Force I have all the strength I need…" Ist said calmly, slapping the last of the lightning away as the Sorcerer took to a two-handed grip on his saber.

"You know nothing about strength through the Force…" he responded snidely, and lunged, swinging his saber at her head.

Ist ducked, parrying the blade upward and exposing the man's torso, but he kicked her away before she could strike and pressed with his flurry of attacks. Ist allow the ground she had gain to be forfeited, and backpedals back toward the rest of the melee, parrying and countering when she could, but mainly dodging the Sorcerer's attacks.

She was disheartened to find that a number of the other Jedi had fallen with various wounds - some lethal – as the other two Dark Adepts slowly closed in on the Director's position. There were many more of the droids that had been destroyed however, so that was a small mercy in comparison.

Director Granger had all but abandoned her datapad, clutching it at her side while her other hand fired her custom blaster, shooting jets of Wild Force across the room and picking off the Imperial Troopers that were trying to encircle the melee of sabers.

Thrusting out with both hands, Ist threw a wave of telekinesis at the Sorcerer, before leaping over the mass of combatants and landing beside the Director, using her yellow saber to block some of the incoming shots and give their leader more time to line up her own on the snipers trying to pick off the Jedi from afar.

"This had become something significantly more difficult than expected." Hermione said, and Ist agreed, although she saved her breath to keep moving her blade.

"Any extra tricks up your sleeves would help about now," Ist did comment, after a shot hit her in the shoulder, grazing her skin and singing her fur.

"There is one thing…" the woman said, holstering her blaster and fishing in a bag that somehow was large enough for her entire arm up to the shoulder. "Ah ha!" she cried, pulling out a collection of tiny remote droids.

Throwing them into the air with one hand, the Director pulled out her small wand and whispered an incantation.

The balls flashed to life, scattering through the air and started shooting spells of their own, aiming for the troopers over the melee fighters, "That'll provide us with covering fire for a few moments," the leader of the rebellion said, slamming a hand on her comlink, "and that will bring the cavalry running…"

Ist nodded, refocusing her effort toward the assassins and the Dark Adepts as the troopers were scattered in the flurry of spell-fire coming from seemingly random directions.

The staff wielder was causing the most chaos in their ranks, and Ist lunged in to that fray, blocking an attack that would have ended one of the Jedi had she not intervened.

The woman snarled at her, before throwing Ist's blade off of her weapon and focusing solely on the Bothan. But Ist had a plan. Circling the Dark Adept quickly, she lashed out with a quick succession of light blows, all easily parried by the staff.

"Such weak attacks have no hope against me," the woman taunted, but Ist just smirked.

"Try this one then!" the Director called from behind the adept, firing her weapon into the Darksider's back. She fell, whether unconscious or dead Ist did not have time to check. At the same moment that the staff wielder fell, the Marauder went into a rage, screaming out in the Force and becoming a living vortex of red plasma.

Ist moved to engage the highly dangerous being, when a cry rang out and froze all attackers.

The Sorcerer had slipped through their lines undetected and had an arm warped around Director Granger, the crimson of his blade sitting dangerously close to her skin.

"Enough of this, don't move Jedi, we have won here!" he shouted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione struggled without success in the arms of her captor. This brute of a madman thought she was weak enough to manhandle. Straining, she did what she could to put up a front of resistance, while secretly reaching with one hand toward her wrist communicator.

She had had a feeling that something akin to this would happen, and therefore had brought something particularly special with them for such an occasion. From the opened cargo bay of the nearest shuttle her newest gadget powered on, accessing the situation.

Even as the Force user tried to pull Hermione back with him as he withdrew from the circle of Jedi defenders, a metallic arm shot out from the shadows of the shuttle, forcing the man to let go of Hermione in surprise and dodge away.

But the arm wasn't focused on him, and its metal claws latched gently around the Director of the former Magi-Tech industries. Hermione ducked as she was quickly pulled into the shadows of the hangar and released, before climbing into the newest devise that she had designed for her own protection.

"Mobil combat suit activated, how fares the battle mistress?" the metallic voice greeted her as she was sealed into the protective compartment of the heavily armored suit.

"Poorly, it's time for an unveiling and full field test of our weapon and combat systems…" Hermione instructed, taking hold of the controls and working in tandem with the artificial AI that powered this battle suit.

Stomping back out, she surveyed the battle from her new vantage. The melee had restarted with a fury, the Dark Adepts and the assassins struggling to overpower the remaining Jedi.

"Activate full suppression mode," Hermione ordered, and the hands of the suit transformed into massive blaster cannons. "Full automatic... Open fire!"

The momentary whirl of energy was followed quickly as the pair of arms locked on targets and unleashed a barrage of plasma bolts and spells, forcing the combatants to leap aside. Those who had the Force widened their eyes as they followed the energy projectiles to their source, while many of the assassins were mowed down effortlessly by the torrent of firepower.

"For the Republic!" Hermione shouted, activate the code phrase that would awaken all of her mechanical children.

Even as her battle suit led the charge, the remaining war droids appeared from the remaining shuttles, crowding the deck and quick reinforcing the line of Jedi defenders. Reaching her discarded datapad, Hermione activated a grappling hook from the suit's chest, which attached to the pad and drew it close, before a panel flipped around to deposit the device in her lap.

"Let's see them try to stop me now," Hermione said aloud, and her AI chuckled in reply as she allowed the combat matrix take automated control of the suit's actions. Sitting in the protective cavity on the suit's chest, she felt reasonable safe, as she had prepared this weapon specifically for battle against lightsabers and Force abilities.

She felt confident that there would be little that could actually touch her here. At the same moment, across the room doors leading out of the hangar burst open, and Meteor and his Force reappeared, charging into the fray and laying a suppressing fire from the opposite side of the room.

A pair of assassins tried to leap onto of the transparent dome covering Hermione, but she just smirked. They thought it was transparasteel or something else that was weaker to weapons than the rest of the magically reinforced metal of the suit, but they had no idea that it was just enchanted to be transparent for her vision. Their weapons clanged heavily off the armor of her suit, and they looked baffled at the phenomenon momentarily before a mechanical arm swept them roughly from on top of the suit.

"Dark Adept target isolated," the suit reported, and Hermione glanced up from her datapad's report of the space battle outside to see the dual wielding Adept charging at her.

"Activate program spell-sword," she instructed, and the heavily repeating blaster arms disappeared, one arm changing into an overlarge lightsaber of her own, while the other was replaced with a massive energy barrier to act as a shield.

Hermione had painstakingly requested for several lightsaber crystals to experiment with, and although Lord Berethon had been reluctant, eventually she had worn him down and acquired a scant few of the special crystals that the Jedi used for their weapons. The design was not complicated, and the finely tuned requirements that typically a Jedi alone could accomplish were child's play for her with the Wild Force at her command.

Hermione was quite proud of her accomplishment, the yellow beam of energy that the weapon produced giving her the ideal of a name for her war suit: the Sunlight Legionary. Provided a perfect success with this experiment, she had hopes of creative significantly more of these suits for their troopers, so that the Jedi alone would not have to contend with the near limitless armies of Dark Adepts that the Empire sported against them.

Charging at her new opponent, Hermione watched and took notes, as the suit confidently shield slammed the Dark Adept, blocking the heavy double strike that the Imperial warrior thought to use to carve through them, before slashed and stabbing with its own mechanical arm. Hermione had tailored her AI as carefully as she could with every recorded style and technique that the Jedi would share with her, which was saying quite a lot given that she had Lord Berethon and the remnant of the Teepo Paladins to help her.

Her machine was on par with at least the mainstay of Jedi Knights from what tests she had conducted, and Hermione was eager to see it put through the fullest of its motions.

The Dark Adept snarled at her through the dome, and Hermione refused to respond, looking down at her opponent with cold calculation, and adding notes silently to aid her machine in its battle.

"Run sequence alpha," she commanded, and the war suit attacked, its saber arm swinging in a perfect replica of the Shii-Cho form of lightsaber combat. The Dark Adept blocked and parried, dancing backward to avoid the equally nimble protective armor.

"You seem to handle the traditional forms quite well…" Hermione noted aloud, jotting down some more notes, "but what about the unorthodox… sequence gamma-delta-beta, go!" she ordered, and the suit radically changed, allowing the full capabilities of the machine suit to run rampant. Wrist-joint spinning in a full arc, the saber arm of the war-suit turned into a rotating disk of destruction, slashing back and forth to knock any possibility of defense away as the Dark Adept tried to tip the scales back into her favor.

Abruptly, the sabers locked once more, and the droid responded, small mirrors extending to reflect and change the integrity of the blade, splitting the beam into a "T" shape at the end. One end of the newly changed blade came dangerously close to striding the Dark Adept, but through the Force she jerked her head out of the way in time.

The new weapon did force her back once more, and the droid slammed the energy shield forward, charging with the energy barrier to try and slam the Imperial warrior into the far wall.

She tried to leap away with the Force, but Hermione's suit had jet propulsion, and bounded after her, swiping mid air to try and intercept her trajectory.

"We're running out of time," Hermione said, watching the energy levels of the ship around them, which was passively feeding her suit. What worried her was that sensors indicated that another fleet was coming, and soon.

"Activate pattern omega, passcode Veneficus!" she declared, removing all safety protocols from her droid, allowing it full parameters in order to destroy its current target.

The shield was forcefully ejected from the suit, even as a second blade-arm appeared, and the suit paused, judging the situation and rapidly calculating every avenue of victory.

A small grapple arm shot out at the Dark Adept, who batted it away with her sabers, but the momentary distraction was enough for the entire suit to propel itself forward with the jet launchers, rushing headlong at the dark warrior.

Blasters hidden in the chasse of the suit opened fire as it charged, preventing the Dark Adept from preparing a stance or blocking the oncoming tide of metal and plasma, and forcing her to dodge altogether. When she did unfortunately, the suit was prepared, and another grapple claw launched, clamping down on the ankle of the woman, and dragging her heavily to the ground.

Both sabers came down with tremendous force, colliding heavily on the crimson blades of the woman as she struggled to free her leg and keep the massive yellow plasma blades away from her body.

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Fury observed the progress of the battle as they arrived in orbit around Ithor. The rebels had come, just as they had reasoned from the information that they had acquired from the rebel spies. And to counter them, the Trio had appeared, almost immediately after.

It was too much of a coincidence to be accident, Fury was certain of it. It smelt of Diábolis and his personal brand of secrecy.

"Launch fighters, I want our position reinforced, and focus your fire on the hijacked ships," he declared, watching as the remnant of the Rebel Fleet appeared to back up their forces.

"Commander Filius Flitwick…" he breathed, impressed at such a showing. The diminutive commander of the rebel forces was a masterful tactician, and there was a high price from the Emperor for his head.

If Fury was to defeat him, he could be granted anything he wished, even placement in a position that would afford him every opportunity at his revenge against Zhar, or even unraveling the mystery that Diábolis was up to against the Emperor.

"Move into range of our weapons, and open fire on the _Pursuit of Justice_ ," he commanded, wondering what the small Mage-Born would do in response to this aggressive gambit.

The smaller hijacked Imperial vessels moved to get in the way of Fury's command cruiser, but several quick barrages of their weapons shattered their line. If the fools aboard allowed their ships to be so easily taken, then they deserved what they got.

"All weapons in range sir, opening fire now." The gunnery officer reported, and Fury nodded in acknowledgement.

"Let's see if this Commander is as self-sacrificing as the stories say…" he muttered, watching closely.

Predictably, the prismatic barrier came up to stop the initial blasts, but the ship continued moving closer to the controlled Imperial cruiser, taking a brunt of attacks on its personal shields as the barrier was forced to shut down.

"As expected," Fury said, "trying to save your friends over even your own lives…" he turned to the rest of the command crew, "prepare boarding craft, and my shuttle, we are ending the rebels here and now!"

He strode away amid the cheers of his soldiers. This would be a glorious battle to remember.


	27. C26: Blades of Treachery

**Many thanks to those who've continued to review. With this story completed, and the editing for AoM concluded, one would think I was brimming with ideas for Project: Raven's Flight, codename for my original work, but for the life of me I keep getting new fanfic ideas intermixed with the glory that it what I desire to write. Almost amusing if it wasn't interfering I guess. But still, things progress, and I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Six**

 **Blades of Treachery**

Kelrek couldn't believe the extreme difficulty that had arisen in trying to capture the rebel leader. Srilis was dead, and even Jenah was being battled to her limit by a mere machine! The massive suit of armor seemed to be more than capable of fighting back and protecting the rebel from any attempts of capture.

At least the assassins that Diábolis had sent were working hard to keep the rest of the Jedi and rebels occupied, allowing Kelrek to observe and try to find a weakness in the machine preventing them.

Granted, it was a true wonder of technomancy, and it was difficult for him to find a possible weakness in the machine. Lightning was the obvious answer, but Kelrek suspected that the suit was already protected from that clear weakness for metal-made electronics.

Still, even a resistant metal could be overloaded given enough power, and Kelrek was not the most gifted Sorcerer in the Empire for nothing.

Withdrawing from the direct melee, Kelrek bought himself the space needed to start gathering the Force around him, allowing his anger to well up and spill over in the force of electricity.

From the corner of his eye, Kelrek spotted the irritating Bothan charging at him, eager to stop whatever he was planning. Luckily, the assassins were more than able to keep up and hamper the Jedi's ability to interfere.

Rising off the ground to reduce the lightning discharging off of him, Kelrek felt his power peak. Extending both hands outward, Kelrek focused his hatred on his obstacle. Blue-white bolts shot out in all directions, leaping over surfaces and seeking its target.

As he expected, the robotic suit was heavily resistant to the electric blast, but he was pleased to find that it did stun the suit for a short moment. It wasn't much, just long enough for Jenah to slip out from under it, where she had been pinned by an overwhelming double attack from the lightsaber blades the suit produced.

Leaping forward as well, Kelrek allowed the Force to flow through his hands, keeping up a steady assault of electric bursts. The suit seemed to fall back momentarily, but as he drew closer, Kelrek paused. The woman within the clear dome over the command section of the suit was smirking at him.

Kelrek tried to retreat, but small hooks shot out of the chest of the suit, catching in his robes and lacerating his arms. That prevented him from escaping the heavy metal arm as it swung at him, knocking him flying and showing how foolish he was to try and exploit an obvious weakness. Why he had tried that even thinking that it wouldn't work, Kelrek had no idea.

The suit leapt at him when he skidded to a halt nearer to a shuttle, the twin yellow blades aimed to impale him on the ground, and as Kelrek tried to lift his own weapon, his felt the waves of agony shoot through his as he realized his sword-arm was shattered.

He was going to die here, Kelrek realized, and in that moment, he felt true fear.

"NO!" someone yelled, and the world slowed around Kelrek as Jenah threw herself in front of him, taking the massive energy weapons in the torso. The sight of the woman throwing her life away for him strangely angered Kelrek, showing him the weakness that had flooded through the Empire. The Marauder had allowed her personal feeling and love to cloud her pursuit of power, and it had cost her life.

The Marauder, in her death throes, swung one of her own sabers with all her strength, crashing the crimson blade into the arm of the droid, carving through it through sheer willpower and physical strength backed up by the pain of her death through the Dark Side.

Once she fell, and Kelrek saw past her into the exposed wiring of the suit that the armor plating had protected, he saw an opportunity. His good hand spewed forth more lightning, striking the exposed electronics and wiring that Jenah had sacrificed herself to carve away.

The result was far more effective. The arm exploded, rocketing the entire suit backward, and clearing the way fro Kelrek to claw himself to his feet. The shattered arm hung lifelessly at his side, and blood dripped from a large chunk of metal that had pierced him. at the least it was not in a vital location, even though Kelrek felt blood on his lips from internal bleeding, he was able to soldier through the pain and advance on the downed suit.

It had clearly overloaded, and the rebel had been forced to eject from the command section. She held a blaster, and aimed at Kelrek as he approached. With a snarl he flung it aside from her with the Force, and seized her. "Enough games, we are leaving, and you will serve my master well…" he hissed, the Force singing in his agony and giving him the strength to drag the woman back to a shuttle.

"No!" several of the Jedi shouted, trying to fight their way through the assassins and resurging troopers, but the oncoming rebel troopers, their faces masked, turned on their allies and started firing.

In the chaos, Kelrek boarded the shuttle and kicked it into autopilot, before flinging the woman into the cargo hold and sealing it shut. Hopefully that was enough to hold her until they reached the nearest allied ship.

Dragging himself to the medical station of the small shuttle, a hypostim injector quickly found its way into Kelrek's body, numbing the screaming pain in his arm and allowing him to do what was needed to splint and set the arm in a position to transport to a more adequate facility.

The intense banging coming from the cargo hold was infuriating, but Kelrek forced himself to plot their course and get as far away from the battle as possible. Diábolis had stated that there would be a ship nearby for extraction of things went south, and the Sorcerer intended to make use of it.

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There was a shockwave sent through the Force as the shuttle jumped to Hyperspace away from the battle, and Ist felt it like a knife through her chest. The assassins fled in an instant, leaving their dead behind even as Meteor and Havoc Squad charged in, shooting a pair of rebel troopers and turning on them completely.

Ist was caught off guard, and only a figure throwing himself at her saved her from being shot by the newfound traitors. Shade was there, grasping the lightsaber hilt of the fallen Dark Adept, "the Director is gone," Ist said quickly, activating her blade and rising swiftly.

"And I suppose we know who the traitor and spy for the Empire is…" Shade replied, one crimson blade activating as he dashed toward Meteor.

Ist was surprised that Shade could wield a Lightsaber effectively, but what shocked her more was Meteor drawing his own red blade and clashing against Shade forcefully.

"I had thought we might find you during this endeavor, traitor!" Meteor said snidely as he fought with Shade. Ist was distracted from this by the clear indications that both masked figures were fighting with obvious training with the weapon, and specialization in Juyo.

"Well, now you have, but can you stop me?" Shade replied angrily, hammering the defenses of Meteor and pushing the other man back. Shade seemed to be in the position of advantage, and even as Ist had to turn and deal with the rest of Havoc Squad, deflecting blaster bolts away from herself and the remaining Jedi, the Operative landed a heavy blow on the helmet of Meteor, scoring it deeply and knocking it from the head of the former Republic commander.

The traitor's face contorted with rage as he parried another attack and actually used the Force on Shade. The telekinetic attack shot through Ist's senses like a erupting volcano. There was no possible way that the man could have hid his Force sensitivity from every Jedi in the rebellion for so long…

Then again, as Ist dispatched another trooper, she recalled that Shade too had that particular ability. Even as he flew backward and crashed into a pillar, his mask was dislodged completely. Ist was confused. Both Meteor and Shade looked identical.

Slowly, realization dawned. They were both members of the Emperor Black Guard; the Arcanamach. Suddenly everything came crashing into place for the Jedi Knight. That was why they were both so effective at their assignments. Meteor was a loyal plant in the rebellion, and Shade was a defector that had inside knowledge and the right face to get anything that he needed.

Meteor bore down on Shade, his saber raised, and Ist leapt through the air, planting herself between them and deflecting the oncoming saber. That bought Shade the time he needed to rise and brandish the saber he had plucked from the battle.

"You timing is excellent, my young Jedi friend," Shade said, even as the mirror of the man's face sneered across from them.

"Well, in these troubled times, we have to keep true allies close," Ist replied, smirking back at Meteor, before advancing to attack. From what she had learned, the Imperial Black Guards were the most elite of all Force users in the Empire, barring the Sith themselves, and within a few short moments she came to one conclusion. Having been undercover for so long had reduced both Shade and Meteor's skills with the blade, but they were still extremely deadly with the weapon, and their strength in the force was surprisingly great.

Ist had to utilize every amount of her training in order to dodge, parry, attack, and counter-block Meteor's strikes. The heavy-handed Juyo strikes shattered through her Makashi parries, and Ist was forced to switch to a stronger Soresu defense.

It was a simple enough switch, as Shade's attacks were more than enough to cover Ist's total defense. They fell into a tandem quickly, Ist intercepting and parrying off Meteor's blade while Shade counterattacked and pushed the other man back.

"You think that this small victory will mean anything?" Meteor taunted, "My master has great plans for your precious leader, and you've already failed to stop it."

"So long as we draw breath," Ist shouted, lunging forward and stabbing at the traitor with her saber, "we will always have the ability to stop villains like you!"

He parried, "bold words for one so small, but utterly irrelevant," the man taunted, extending a hand and allowing lightning to flow through it.

Shade appeared, deflecting the deadly energy with his weapon, "Veneficus is using us all, can't you see that?" he retorted, obvious hinting at something that was specific for the pair of them, although Ist was unaware of the context.

"I have already severed my ties to the Emperor," Meteor said, bringing his saber to bear and slapping away Shade's, "my master will topple the head of the Empire and take his rightful place as the new leader of the Empire in due time. Your precious director will help bring the final piece of the grand design to fruition!"

"Unfortunately for you, this plan requires you all to die!" Meteor continued, backing away from them. "How better than with a self destructing ship," he added, turning swiftly and plunging his blade into the controls for the fuel tanks that they had edged toward over the course of their battle.

"Look out!" Shade shouted, throwing Ist with the Force out of the blast radius even as the tank ruptured.

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Hermione threw herself at the door once again, making sure that the madman on the other side knew of her displeasure. In truth, she was already working on a more refined plan to escape. The fool had picked one of her shuttles to steal, and while it would function just fine in trying to get away, but there was a flaw in the man's plan.

Hermione was in control of this ship, regardless of what he would like or desire. Finding a small console in the cargo hold, Hermione drew her wand swiftly and started probing the panels, loosening the metal plate and exposing the wiring and components within.

She had spent hours designing these shuttles, and knew them inside and out. Each console was perfectly capable of controlling all major systems, if you had the administrator bypass key that Hermione wore around her neck at all times.

Inserting the key into the special port for it, Hermione looked at the screen as it changed from being locked down to displaying all command functions, and then some.

"Let's see how you like it when I take control…" Hermione muttered, activating camera in the main cabin. The Dark Adept was there, struggling to doctor his shattered arm. Hermione felt no remorse for inflicting that on the man, but she wouldn't mind making things a bit harder for him.

Quickly checking their trajectory and destination of their Hyperspace jump, Hermione realized that whatever she wanted to do, she had a very limited window of time. So much so in fact that she wouldn't be able to stop their arrival. So instead of wasting time there, she locked down the cockpit and disabled all controls from that end aside from piloting. Following that she tapped into the long range communication, and encrypted a direct message back to Bakura.

Finally, she wiped the logs of all known locations and disabled the stored charms that would allow the shuttle to bypass their Fidelius Charms. If they were planning to try and use her to find _Sanctuary_ they had another thing coming. Hermione would not allow herself to be used by Veneficus again. She would die first.

The ship pulled out of Hyperspace, and was targeted by a tractor beam by the massive cruiser that they approached, which nullified her attempts to delay their boarding of the larger vessel.

Still, she typed away furiously, sending out what information she could and making sure that the shuttle was a lifeless hulk of metal by the time that the Empire got their hands on it. She wouldn't permit them to misuse her technology any longer.

Her heard metallic footsteps approaching, troopers on the other side of the door, and she magnetically sealed it to hinder them. Just for added benefit, she tossed a few charms to reinforce the door from her wand, and quickly punched in the code to destroy all information and records on this shuttle, wiping it clean.

She pulled out her master key and stuffed it into her mouth, swallowing the metal with a small grimace. They would have to kill her to get it, and then it would be equally useless to them. And if she survived, there would be ways for her to retrieve the key with minimal invasive surgery, or pain.

Leveling her wand at the door, she squinted at the sparks that started to fly as the troopers cut their way through. The moment a hole appeared, she rapidly shot stunners and cutting hexes through, wishing to cause as much damage as possible to those who would try to take her away again.

She was not prepared for the lightning that poured through in response to her barrage, and fell to the deck in pain, crying out and releasing hold of her wand. The doors slammed open at that, and she was surrounded. "Treat her gently," a voice said, but she was unable to focus her eyes. "Take her below and put her in a holding cell. Watch her close, and prepare for the rendezvous with Lord Diábolis."

She knew that name, the apprentice of the Emperor. It was as bad as Hermione feared. She struggled, but the armored hands that held her were vice-like. "Stop struggling, you'll injure yourself," a voice said, and she was somewhat confused as to why the Empire would care about her wellbeing, unless it was the Emperor's direct command that she arrive unharmed.

Therefore, she snarled back and fought harder, but when her eyes refocused, there was a gloved hand in her face, and she felt the mental assault before going limp.

"That will hold her for a while, but her mind is strong." The voice continued, and Hermione was able to see the Dark Adept that had captured her speaking with the other troopers, "take her quickly, and get us out of here. I have no doubts that she transmitted out location to her allies in the attempt to stage a rescue."

Hermione smirked. She had done far more than that. She had taken the signature ID of the ship and broadcasted it on all rebel frequencies, so that they knew exactly what ship had her. The likelihood of them escaping without a retaliatory assault was slim. Every faction loyal to their cause would know where they were at all times, and who was on board.

"The sooner she's handed over to the Sith Lord, the better." A trooper said, even as they started to drag her away. "Apparently she is some sort of genius, and the rebel leader…" another replied after they turned the corner and was out of earshot of the Dark Adept.

"Well, given what we learned about the war, I wouldn't be surprised, she looks like she was once armed to the teeth, Lord Kelrek must have made a monumental effort to capture this one…

"Did you see him though, she must have put up quite the fight…" the first trooper said.

Hermione could already feel sensation coming back to her limbs, but she still couldn't move in any meaningful way until they arrived at the prison block, and she was dumped unceremoniously into a cell. The energy field sprang up over the doorway as he rose. Dusting off her lab coat, she looked for anything she could use, but the room was bare.

"No wand, no blaster…" she muttered, checking every pocket of her coat, including the ones that were unseen. Wire, plating, some preserved food… nothing she could use on its own to escape. It appeared that she was trapped for the time being, and had to rely on others to come for her.

The guards were just outside the door, and she hammered on the panel next to it to get their attention. "If it's not too much trouble, something to read would be appreciated," she said, and the guards look at each other, wondering if they were supposed to cater to her wishes or not…

Hermione huffed when they refused her. It was going to be a long, boring time before she was rescued.

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Filius Flitwick saw the ships fleeing from the captured cruiser, and while he was intently interested in what was going on down there, he had other things to worry about. Two more fleets worth of ships had arrived, and were pushing the _Pursuit of Justice_ to its limits.

"Fighters closing in fast!" one of the officers said.

"I hope that we can get away with this quickly," Filius said to himself, watching the readouts of their shield closely. They had been taking a great deal of punishment, covering the other ship with their own. They prevented them from returning fire as effectively as they could.

"It may be time to use Operation Exodus," Filius announced, even as their shields dipped below forty percent.

The entire command crew went silent. Operation Exodus was still a prototype, and Director Granger warned them that it was only to be used in extreme emergencies. It was a mass Hyperspace Generator, supposed able to warp an entire section of space to a destination of their choice.

There were many uncertainties in this new technology, and therefore if they were going to go through and use it, they ran the risk of destroying one or more of the ships around them. Nevertheless, the command crew understood the need for them to keep their technology away from the Empire, and started to preparations for the mass Hyperspace Generator.

"Open communications to our forces on the imperial craft," Filius called, "and start the countdown for the localized jump!"

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Ist slowly came to as an irritating beeping in her ear. The heat on her face helped rouse her as he leapt back to her feet. Most of the hangar was on fire, and the rest of the Jedi and troopers were trying to put out of the fires.

"T…this is Knight Ist, what is going on?" she said hesitantly, her head pounding as he answered the comlink chimes.

"This is Commander Flitwick," the voice on the other end replied, "You had all better hold onto something, we're activate the Mass Hyperspace Generator."

Ist's eyes widened, and she snapped back to full alertness. If they were planning on using that device, then things outside the ship were bad.

"The Director has been taken hostage, and is no longer here," she said quickly, hoping to stall them so that they could locate where the Dark Adept had fled with her.

"There is no time, it's already preparing." The commander replied, sorrow in his tone, "We'll have to retrace our steps and find her after we survive this."

'If we survive this,' she thought, even as she scrambled for something to secure herself with.

The world around her shifted, and the ship shuddered, jumping forcefully to lightspeed as the _Pursuit of Justice_ activated its mass generator.

Loose debris started falling and paneling from the ship were pried loose from the radical and abrupt change in velocity. Many of the troopers were thrown about at the sudden movement, but the Jedi were able to hold themselves down with the Force.

As quickly as it started, the movement ended. They must have only jumped a short way, to separate themselves from the forces attacking them so that they could finish with the ship they were on, and take control completely. Although, without the Director and her device to control the virus, they had to take control the old fashioned way.

Still somewhat confounded from the explosion, Ist was sure that there was something important that she was forgetting, but there was too much that they had to attend to for her to focus on what it was she was forgetting.

Rallying the Jedi and troopers, she started to organize them into teams to go and take control of vital systems throughout the ship, leaving herself to coordinate and assist the team going to the bridge.

They were short several groups that she would want to use, and therefore they could only assault the life support, shield generator, engine and bridge, but it would have to do for the time being until reinforcements from the _Pursuit of Justice_ arrived.

They started off, and Ist lagged behind to try and clear her head of the fog that had been there since she awoke.

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Fury couldn't believe his eyes.

Even as they started to close in on their enemies, they pulled from their assortment of tricks something altogether new, and jump an entire section of the battle into Hyperspace at the same time, a large number of said ships not even facing the correction direction to be pulled into light speed.

It baffled the mind on how that was even possible, "Calculate their trajectory, I want them found now!" he shouted, his mechanical arm leaving dents in the metal railing that he was clasping angrily.

But even as the being in charge of following through on his commands rushed to obey, Fury was certain that it was too late. By the time they discovered where the rebels had fled to and pursued, they would already be gone with their prize intact.

At least he could be satisfied that Diábolis did not make an appearance, nor did he seem to get a hold of anything that would aid him in defying the Emperor.

"Sir, we found the coordinates, as well as several others from fleeing shuttles," the officer in charge replied minutes later. Fury quickly took the data and scanned the trajectories. They all seemed to in the same direction away from the battle, and toward where it was suspected that the Rebels were hiding in the Galaxy.

That being noted however, there was one glaring exception. A single shuttle had taken a staggeringly different vector away from the battle, toward Imperial space, and from what records they could pull up, there was a fleet there in that exact location. How or why a rebel shuttle would go toward an Imperial fleet meant only one thing for Fury.

There had been a traitor in the rebel's midst, and they likely were serving Diábolis. "Follow that shuttle there," he ordered, showing the vector to the entire bridge, "that is where the greatest priority will lie."

"But sir, the main rebel force went…" an officer started to complain, but a stern glare from the Marauder silenced the fool. They all knew the price for standing in Fury's way, and while his body count was not high in the realm of direct killing of his subordinates, there was still a long line of death in Fury's wake when it came to those that displeased him.

Silently, the other went back to their assigned duties, and started plotting the course to jump to the location of the rogue shuttle. Fury monitored them until they entered light speed, then departed for his personal chambers. He needed to figure out what this rebel attack had to do with aiding the Sith Apprentice, and what it was that he could do to stop this planned action against the will of the Emperor.

Only when he was securely alone did Fury allow his frustration to vent. Roaring in rage, the Force reacted, throwing small objects in all direction and warping the metal of the deck beneath his feet.

Diábolis was one step ahead still! Fury had thought that he upper hand with his discovery of the plan here, but the blasted Sith Lord slipped through his metal fingers when he was momentary distracted by the rebels.

Now they were playing catch-up once again, trying to discover what was going on while Diábolis had his way with the unknown things he had acquired. Calming himself with great effort, Fury thought about the situation rationally.

They would be able to pursue the shuttle, and the corresponding fleet it had fled to through Hyperspace for a long time, and in that process they might find another breakthrough that will get them a step closer, or even as step ahead.

"You may be strong, and well positioned," Fury said to the thought of Diábolis in his mind, "but you will make a mistake eventually, and I will be there to bring the blade of the Emperor's wrath to your throat when it happens…"

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Filius breathed a sigh of relief when the communication finally came through that the Imperial craft was fully under their control. Apparently there had been many losses in the process of this attack, and while no other Imperial ships were coming after them, they had little choice but to limp back to Bakura and tend their wounds.

The loss of Director Granger weighed heavily on them all, and even though there was an emergency beacon calling out coordinates for them, they had no forces capable to immediately go and seek her out.

Or at least, that was what he had initially thought. "We will go," the voice of the brave Bothan Jedi Knight said when the distress beacon was mentioned.

"I do not think that it is wise to send so few…" Filius started to object, but the Jedi overruled him.

"There is no time, if we wait the Empire will know that this ship is compromised, and we will lose the element of surprise. We know where they are, and where they might be going." Ist replied, her stubborn resolve showing strongly through.

Filius knew that he had no room to object. "We will send you every available member of personnel we have to help you in this rescue operation."

"Thank you Commander," Ist said at last, the sincerity in her eyes tangible. "Return to base, and rally all the support you can and come after us, I have a suspicion we will need every available ship possible to escape from this mess alive."

"Commander," Admiral Weasley said, approaching him across the bridge, "I would like to request leading the forces on the Imperial ship. They'll need all the tactical help that they can get, and I know you can lead the ship just as well without me."

"Permission granted," Filius replied, knowing that the red haired younger man spoke the truth. And his brilliance with strategy would be useful to the young Jedi strike force that was so eager to go after the Director.

It took less than an hour for supplies and forces to transfer across to the imperial ship, several prisoners had been taken, and Filius happily had them in his holding cells. There would be means of getting information from them back on Bakura, before wiping their minds and releasing them back into the Galaxy once again.

But even as the majority of his command staff, troopers, friends and allies jumped to Hyperspace in the stolen ship, bound toward the Imperial Core, he worried. There was a very clear likelihood that, if they crossed the wrong group in the Empire's stronghold there might be nothing left to rescue by the time Filius was ready to go after them.

"Be safe…" he said to himself, watching the empty area of space where they vanished from.

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Kelrek hissed as the medical droid went about putting his arm back together. The damage that the Rebel leader had done to him was quite extensive, and it was equally likely that his arm would never be the same again, despite the work being put into healing it, including bacta-soaked patches being applied.

If Diábolis hadn't specifically demanded that the woman be brought to him alive and unharmed, Kelrek would have taken great pleasure in breaking her will himself, and shattering her brilliant mind into pieces.

Alas, that was not an option, so he would make sure that Diábolis got exactly what he needed, and perhaps once he was done with the Mage-born, then Kelrek could have the pleasure of eliminating for the Sith Apprentice.

His arm in a sling as the Bacta did the work that it needed, mending tissue and tendons back together, Kelrek went to inform the Sith Lord that they were en route to the coordinates given previously where they were to meet.

As he waited for the signal to be established, Kelrek let his mind wander to the other consequences of following the orders of Diábolis. Srilis dead, Jenah left behind and presumed dead as well. The Trio was dissolved and Kelrek felt nothing regarding it. The power of the Dark Side was at his fingertips, and soon he would ascend well beyond any Dark Adept in the history of the Empire.

"This is Diábolis," came the voice of the Devaronian Sith Lord.

"My Lord," Kelrek said with a small bow, "We have the prisoner you requested, and will be arriving soon at the rendezvous point."

"Good…" Diábolis said, his red eyes seeming to glance swiftly over Kelrek's form, "I see she put up something of a struggle."

"The strange power of the Mage-born caught me off guard, but I managed to prevail in the end." Kelrek admitted, inwardly seething at having his weakness pointed out.

"Hmm," the Devaronian said noncommittally, "I will have people meet you there for the transition of the prisoner, and you would do well to keep a low profile afterward. The Emperor is sure to become aware of the attack and battle, and your involvement would be most problematic for him to discover."

"I understand, my Lord," Kelrek said, "we will disappear into the background…"

"I'm sure you will," Diábolis said, smirking as the communication ended.

Kelrek sighed as his arm twanged in pain again, and took to meditating in order to channel the pain into strength as well as pass the time.

Soon enough, he was disturbed by the door guard, informing him that they were exiting Hyperspace, and there was a ship already waiting for them. Kelrek's arm was numb and useless, but at least did not hamper him as he walked to the main hangar, where a shuttle to transfer the prisoner was arriving shortly. There was no formal precession, no fanfare or other pomp to this meeting. The less who knew about it the better and Kelrek wanted it that way.

Just a few guards to restrain the prisoner and a commanding officer aside from himself were present. Even the maintenance workers and fighter pilots were excused from the hangar for the time of the meeting, in order to make absolutely sure that only those involved were aware of the transaction.

The shuttle landed gracefully, and the ramp descended. Kelrek expected some elite troopers or a few other Dark Adepts at the worst, but the strangely clad women were a surprise. The stepped forward swiftly and extricated the prisoner from his troopers, and a few retreated with the woman back into the shuttle.

"I trust Lord Diábolis will know the full details of this perfect operation?" Kelrek asked.

"Most assuredly," the lead woman said, and Kelrek had a scarce moment to react before she drew daggers and plunged them into the officer at his side.

Cursing the treachery of the Sith, Kelrek ignited his saber, cradling the weapon in his offhand. He was at a severe disadvantage at this moment, with painkillers in his system and unable to use his normal weapon arm.

The assassins made quick work of the troopers and encircled him. "Lord Diábolis sends his condolences," the leader said scathingly, "but he has to think of the future, and a weak-minded fool does not make a good apprentice."

"We shall see about that!" Kelrek shouted, allowing a shockwave of the Force to erupt around him. He hoped to scatter the group of assassins and start picking them off a few at a time, but they all leapt as over the telekinetic blast, and pounced upon him.

He swung his saber as well as his offhand could, but he had never had much skill in the use of his other hand, and therefore was far slower and less refined than he would have liked. The lack of his other hand also prevented him from using much of his skill in the Force, and with a jolt of surprise, Kelrek knew that Diábolis had planned for this.

He had selected that woman because he knew she would put up the most fight and injure Kelrek in the process, weakening him just enough for these assassins to do their job right. The first blade to enter his body was numbing to him, but the second was like a hot tongue of fire.

He lashed out, throwing his saber and killing at least one of his assailants, but they were already trying to drag him to the ground with the two blades in him. Lightning and other arcane Force abilities flowed from him in his hatred, but Kelrek could sense the poison in their blades already weakening his ability to channel the Force.

Foregoing all sense of constraint, he tried to use his healing arm and attack with both hands, but they drove another blade through the bandages and mending bone and into his side, pinning the limb and sending jolts of pain through Kelrek's body.

He staggered at that, and the assassins flowing around him, layering lacerations and punctures on his frame, even as he started to see everything in as fuzzy, grey outline.

Focusing all the remaining willpower that he had, Kelrek tried to retreat, but his legs refused to cooperate any longer. The strain of the attack and the poison running through him were too much, and he sank slowly to his knees.

Silently raging, Kelrek looked with narrow beams of vision up to the outline of space beyond the energy field. If he had the strength he would have deactivated the field and killed them all in the vacuum of space. Not even a Force user could survive the lifeless expanse, but he simple fell to the deck. He had lost, and Diábolis, the traitorous devil that he was, had succeeded in using him to his own gain. Kelrek lost consciousness and perished under the blade of betrayal.


	28. C27 Cleaning House

**Many thanks to those who've reviewed! Man, it feels like its been forever since I touch any fanfiction, even though I know for a fact its only been a week since I started working on project: Raven's Flight. progress is very different when working on an original novel rather than fanfiction… much slower to be specific. But still, on another topic, enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Seven**

 **Cleaning House**

Veneficus sensed something odd as he made final preparations to depart from Coruscant. There was a hasty movement in the stars, as though many tiny ants were swarming in frantic fury. The Rebels had been ousted from hiding and were fighting against his forces.

He smirked. This was good. By the time he was done with his ritual, and forever set as the leader of the Galaxy, having defeated even death itself, he would be able to venture forth and crush them at long last, in person.

With Luna Lovegood defeated, tormented and stranded, there would be no amount of resistance that could stop him. And this time, he had prepared. Dathomir was blockaded, locked down and completely monitored. Nothing was allowed onto or off of the planet, even if the woman managed to survive yet again.

He would return there eventually, just to make sure that she indeed was dead, or else devastate the entire planet in honor of his final victory over the past, the Jedi, and everything else that stood in his way.

Still, it was amusing to sense the fools that thought they could truly stop him. Let them come, and battle over an empty palace. Anything of worth was well protected, and even then he had memorized every scrap of knowledge that would be of use to them. Let the fools throw their lives away trying to defeat him, he would endure their attacks, and destroy them utterly, rising from the ashes like a glorious bird of prey.

He turned away, boarding the shuttle and setting the scepter of Ragnos at his side, before signaling the pilot to take off. Ruusaan would be the location of his greatest achievement, the triumph of the Sith in all that they ever desired: unlimited life and power; a perfect being at last ruling the Galaxy singlehanded as a perfect Emperor who could not submit to the deficits of time, injury, or the Dark Side itself.

None would oppose him ever again, not even Diábolis. The very being he had set in a position to be capable of defeating him, and it would no longer matter. The line of the Sith was to end. From now on there was the Rule of Veneficus, and none other.

Smiling to himself as the shuttle departed the atmosphere, Veneficus felt the warmth of the Philosopher's stone on his breast. He would dispose of that hollow crutch once he overcame the degeneration of his power, and therefore the secret would reside in him alone to produce such powerful restorative.

Idly, he thought of future plans. Perhaps he wouldn't destroy the stone, but use it and the elixir to subjugate the Galaxy further. Offer them healing and life at price, and only their loyalty to his rule and his Empire would permit a system access to the life giving Veneficus, the glorious Emperor who would give life and health to all who bent the knee.

His echoing laughter chilled the entire shuttle.

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Diábolis waited impatiently for news of his prisoner's well-being once the shuttle of assassins returned. It was a pity about Kelrek, but the foolish Sorcerer had been far too trusting of the wrong people. Had he truly listened to his longtime companions, he might have realized that the Sith Lord had no need for him whatsoever. But that was in the past now, and with him dead, Diábolis hoped to circumvent anyone that attempted to follow after their beloved rebel leader.

Once the shuttle was docked properly, he sent the signal for them to start the jump to Coruscant. The quicker that this executed this part of the plan, the sooner he would get rid of the woman and move on.

An assassin came, presenting the woman's wand to him, and Diábolis took the slender foci of wood, twirling it gently in hand as he made his way to the prison block. Bypassing the guards for the woman, he entered her cell, and paused. She already had a panel off one of the walls and was messing with the wiring within, likely to try and make her own escape.

She had frozen however when she spotted him, although Diábolis found it more amusing than anything. "I see you've wasted no time getting comfortable," he said jokingly, even as she backed away from the panel and a trooper went in to set it right.

The manacles that she had been wearing were discarded on the ground, and Diábolis glanced at them, before looking back at the expectant woman, who clearly thought that she would be placed back in them. "We won't need those, I think," he said, beckoning for the woman, "walk with me," he said, and the troopers that entered gave the rebel no choice but to comply.

"I refuse to be given as a prize back to that monster." She said quickly, defiantly even, and Diábolis laughed.

"I had heard much regarding your intelligence, Director Granger of the former Magi-tech industries, and currently commander-in-chief of the rebellion," Diábolis retorted, "but I hardly would have thought you would be so quick to misjudge the circumstances."

She glanced at him as he drew her wand, "I have need of your skills, not with technology, but with this… all in an effort to destroy my Master: the Emperor…" Diábolis explained briefly.

She huffed in irritation, but Diábolis knew that the woman was listening intently. "We are en route to Coruscant, and the Imperial Palace there. You would know it better as the former Jedi Temple." The Devaronian enjoyed the twinge of anger that sparked in the human at that, and continued, "On one of the lowest floors of the Archive there, he has a room sealed with your power of the Wild Force. I need you to break that seal, so I can see just what it is that my Master is hiding from me, and hopefully it will be something that I can use in destroying him."

"What makes you think I will help you dispose of one madman Emperor and set up another?" Granger shot back, almost snarling in her indignation.

"Simple," Diábolis countered, smirking, "You hate Veneficus nearly as much as I do, and scarcely know or care about me… how could I possibly be worse than the man that destroyed your home world, used your creations to wreak havoc across the Galaxy, and then destroyed the home that he had you build to replace the first one."

The temptation was there, even as they arrived at one of the large viewing lounges, less of a cell than on the detention block, but still very easily guarded. "You'll have all the comforts you could desire here," Diábolis explained, "while you think over my proposal…"

"A gilded cage is still just that…" Granger said, but allowed the guards to escort her inside nonetheless, "And I want something to read…" she added. Diábolis smirked as the door closed. There was a fire in that one, which burned for one singular thing. Defeating Veneficus… just like Diábolis himself desired it. And he knew that she would aid him in the end, even if he was forced to make her do so…"

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Severus had not expected for them to be taking excessive prisoners from the operation to capture an Imperial cruiser. Granted, he had also not expected for Ms. Granger to be captured by the Empire either, or the desperate situation that they were placed in.

Hurrying to Bakura to meet with the returning Filius and his remaining troops, Severus gladly took custody of the several prisoners, primarily foot soldiers of the Empire who would know little and be of even less use to them.

However, there was one that would be able to tell Severus what he wanted to know. They had captured a Dark Adept. The powerful woman was struggling madly against the heavy chains that she had been placed in, reinforced by magic and unbreakable with her strength in the Force.

"Well, well," Severus said as she was wheeled into his makeshift lab on Bakura. It was not nearly as stocked as he would like, but for the intent that they had for this interrogation, it had all he needed. "You are quite the strong one…"

"Don't try to placate me, fool!" the woman spat back, "I know you: the Emperor's prisoner from the war. You're the man who designed poisons and other methods of death that we used to great effect on the pathetic Republic."

"Then you know what peril you are in, being in my presence," Severus retorted coldly, and the woman drew still. "Your allies captured a dear friend of mine," Severus continued, "and I need to know what their plan is. Typically I would have restraint forced upon me by her, but she is not here to protect you from all that I can do…"

He took out a small injector, and filled it with veritaserum. He knew that the threat alone would not be sufficient, and the potion may not work alone either, but if he weakened her will enough for the potion to take effect, they would have all they wanted and more.

The woman struggled, but was not able to prevent Severus from stabbing the needle of the injector into her neck. She snarled and thrashed, but the Potion Master's hands were steady, despite his age, and he removed the needle without causing any harm to his victim. Quickly discarding the injector and moving in front of his guest, and drew his wand.

"Your magic will have no effect on me…" the woman sneered.

Severus just smirked, "You have not experienced even half of what our power is capable of…" pointing the wand between the woman's eyes, he swiftly muttered, " _Legilimens_."

Severus was not surprised that the woman had significantly strong mental shielding. Force users seemed to have naturally forming defenses in part of the protection from the abilities of their kind, but Severus was ready. The weaknesses in the mental shielding were already present from the potion, and Severus was all too eager to pressure those weaknesses and pierce into the memories of the Dark Adept.

Countless atrocities, granted at such a low scale compared to what Severus had experienced, or even committed in his worst days, flowed freely from the mind he tore open. Delving deeper, Severus started his search for the information he sought. Looking for any image of Ms. Granger, Severus quickly homed in on the battle recently.

The women had not gotten a good look at the exact moment when Granger was taken, but connected to that memory was a great deal regarding one Sorcerer named Kelrek. The man triggered many memories, especially recently concerning their plans, and foreknowledge regarding the rebel operation.

Severus was frustrated at that knowledge. They had done exactly what Ms. Granger had warned them against. They had admitted a traitor unknowingly and it had cost them. But he set that emotion aside, and refocused on siphoning where they might have taken Granger.

The scene shifted to several meetings with this man Kelrek, and constant references to Potter's apprentice, a Devaronian Sith Lord who was second to none but the Emperor himself.

That made sense, Granger would be wanted by the Sith for her mind, and releasing the spell Severus was sure that he knew exactly where they had taken her. "Your cooperation is most appreciated," Severus said congenially, "We will now be able to stop your friend and recover our ally from the Sith Lord's hands…"

Marauder Jenah snarled back, and Severus just shook his head. She would survive, but whether they could take more information in future would be useful to understand.

"Sit tight, I'll return swiftly for our next session…" Severus said coldly, turning and leaving to inform Filius that they needed to go to Coruscant. Hopefully they could intercept Granger and her abductor before they landed on the planet. If the Emperor was still there, they'd have no chance of recovering her once she entered the Palace.

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Hermione sat for a long time in the lounge room, the small stack of datapads that had been provided for her set aside. Oh, she had read them, and they had been quite fascinating once she dug past the Imperial propaganda imbedded in the rhetoric of their history. It still allowed her to understand quite a bit of what the Imperials believed, and why they revered and downright worshipped the Sith.

She was not convinced, not in the slightest, and she still very much wanted to see Veneficus and the entire system of oppression that the Empire generated torn down brick by brick, until the Republic could be restored and the laws of justice returned to the Galaxy. But she had to be honest with herself, she was tempted by Diábolis' offer to locate something powerful that would end Veneficus completely, even if it meant allowing the apprentice to take the throne.

Ideally, the pair would kill each other and that would be the end of the Sith, but she had a feeling one or the other would turn out victorious, and the reign of terror would grow worse for everyone.

However, she was already scheming of a way to profit off this event, and thereby steal away the core world of the Galaxy out from under both Sith Lords' noses. If she knew Harry's methods, and she felt that she certainly did, most control for the defense grid for the entire planet hidden inside the palace itself, formerly the Jedi Temple. If she could escape from Diábolis for even a moment, and hack into the Temple's security, she could take control of the entire planet, and turn everything against the Empire, liberating Coruscant and turning the planet into a shining beacon of hope for the Galaxy once more.

Turning to the guard that was posted just inside the door, respectfully distant but present enough to deter her trying to tear the room apart, she spoke, "I am willing to speak with Diábolis about his offer."

The masked trooper nodded, tapping the side of his helmet to activate a comlink imbedded within. Hermione knew she could make a better design where the comlink would be activated without the need for a hand gesture, but she held her tongue. She wouldn't bother trying to improve the technology of her enemies.

It only took a few minutes for the Sith Lord to arrive. Hermione turned in her seat to face him, "I will help you destroy Veneficus, but nothing more."

"Understandable," the Sith Lord said, and Hermione could feel the malicious and devious mind inside the horned skull spinning as the being before her clearly fashioned a plan wherein she was actually compliant on the spot. So sad that he assumed that she would not even consider it… and all the better for her, as she would be able to perhaps gain a marginal amount of trust and permit her own goal to happen.

"So, am I to get any information regarding the plan?" she asked after several minutes of silence.

The Sith Lord smirked, "Of course," he said, before taking a seat and setting her wand on the table between them.

Hermione realized that it was a test, trying to see if she would go for the wand and try to escape, and she would resist it completely.

"The Palace has a second entrance into the lowest levels, running through what is little more than a sewage drain these days," Diábolis explained, "We will enter from there, and bypass the guardian that Veneficus set to protect that area."

"What guardian?" Hermione pressed, knowing that she would have to fight for every scrap of detail that she was to get. The Devaronian seemed to expect this, and smirked.

"A massive serpent that obeys Veneficus alone, brilliant crimson and capable of swallowing a grown being whole." He described.

"Sounds like a Basilisk in size, but the coloration is wrong…" Hermione said, more trying to riddle it out for herself.

"It breathes flames much like the winged ones from your home world," Diábolis added, and Hermione wondered if the Sith was actually interesting in understanding what the beast was.

"I think I have a theory of what it is…" she started, piecing together what she knew that Veneficus was capable of. "if Sith Alchemy is as capable as I have been led to believe, the Emperor may have taken his ruby cobra from our world, and crossed its form with that of both a Basilisk and a Dragon, forming some new creation that combines the destructive power of all three creatures…"

"The kill count that the beast possesses give more than significant credence to your theory," the Sith replied, pulling a datapad from his robes and setting it next to Hermione's wand, "This is an image of the beast," he said, tapping it and displaying a hologram of the bright crimson serpent. "Do you think you can find a weakness in order to slay the beast?"

"I could, but I'd also need to know what tools I have to work with to devise the right weapon for the job," Hermione countered, pulling the datapad closer and completely ignoring her wand. The records were actually quite detailed, "How did you come by this information?" she asked, noting that there was even a sample of the beasts DNA, likely stolen from shed skin.

"I have my ways, and those who follow me and me alone," Diábolis replied secretively, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she replied sarcastically. She busied herself by scrolling swiftly through the information and reading the medical readout of the beast's genetic code. It was quite a masterpiece of creation, even if it resulted in such a vile creature. Veneficus was indeed skilled with everything he put his hand toward.

"It's a magnificent piece of genetics," she commented, even as she noted the magical and Force sensitive nature of the sample cells that were documented in the datapad, "capable of limited control of every aspect of the Force, as well as bred for extreme intelligence."

"But is there a weakness to exploit?" Diábolis insisted, clearly only carting for one specific piece of information, regardless of whatever idle interest he had generally.

Hermione smirked. "I found one…" its eyes…" she tapped the layout of the cells. "It inherited the weakness of the Basilisk's eyes rather than its deadly gaze. They are set high and protruding from the socket, which exposes them, even if it thickens the membranes that cover them," she explained.

"So we can blind it, and through that possibly even attack the brain directly?" Diábolis asked, and Hermione nodded.

"As interesting as it would be to study such a creature, it is altogether evil and loyal to the Emperor," she said with a shrug, "it is best that the thing be put down as swiftly as possible."

"So we'll need something powerful to pierce the membrane, and accurate enough to strike the small eye as the beast moves," Diábolis said, thinking hard.

"A pity that there isn't much that could bind down the beast," Hermione added, looking over the data again, "preventing its movement would allow a much larger range of weapons to be used."

The Sith nodded in agreement, "Still, I have a few ideas of what we could use; excellent reasoning." He complimented. Rising and turning to the trooper nearby, issues a few quiet commands.

"I will have the armory set up several of them, and later you may inspect each of them to see which of our weapons would be most effective. Until then I will leave you to your evening. We have about half a day left until we arrive at Coruscant. Make sure that you get the rest you need."

And with that, Diábolis left. Hermione turned from the closed door and her guard back to the datapad that was on the table, and realized that the Sith had left her wand with her as well. It didn't seem like a trap, so she could only assume that she had passed whatever test that the Devaronian had prepared.

She also realized that the Sith likely thought that her wand wouldn't be of any use to her here, and therefore trying to use it would be futile. Nevertheless, she felt more comfortable with it in her possession, and therefore pocketed it swiftly. The guard at the door didn't even flinch at the movement, so she guessed that he was already aware of the change of situation. Hermione sat back, knowing that she wasn't getting anywhere for the time being, and thought about what she might request for her evening meal.

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Ist stared at the empty point in space that surrounded them. The Imperial ship was equipped with all the known Hyperspace routes that the Empire used, and it was certain that the beacon that Director Granger had triggered stopped for a time at this point. The problem came in the form of communication from Bakura, and Professor Snape.

"You mean that the Sith will be taking her to Coruscant?" Ist asked, even as the black-robed Potions Master nodded.

"Undoubtedly. There is some fixation that the Sith have with her specifically. What I do not know is whether this Diábolis is operating alone or for the will of his master…"

"Veneficus…" Ist confirmed, growing grim. If indeed the Emperor himself had orchestrated the kidnapping of Director Granger, then time was indeed of the essence. The tracker had moved on, but almost if in agreement with Professor Snape's assumption, it was following the Imperial Hyperlanes toward the Core world, although there were many interceptions where it might turn off and proceed elsewhere.

"We have little choice but to believe you in this," Ist said, acknowledging that the man had insight that they needed. "If you find anything else, let us know."

"I will," Severus said solemnly, and Ist closed the communication.

Turning to Admiral Weasley, who was disguised as a high ranking Imperial officer, just in case they intercepted any communication from the Empire, she gave her decision, "We will make use of the old Republic routes to get to Coruscant by a swifter route, and wait there for the ship carrying Hermione to arrive, then attack and try to rescue her as swiftly as possible."

"Understood," Weasley said, turning to relay the orders to the rest of the command crew. For a ship this size, they were certainly undermanned, but they could get most of the systems to operate normally, or at least passably. Other Imperial ships ought to not notice any difference if they encountered them en route.

Ist brushed at her fur for what felt like the hundredth time. As part of their disguises, she and the other Jedi had had to raid the private quarters of the former inhabitants of the ship. They had found many Dark Adept robes and ornaments, and were suitably uncomfortable with the amount of Dark Side energy that was lingering on them. As an additional effect for herself, Ist had used a bit of soot and darkened her fur in places, particularly around her face to detract anyone's attention from studying her too closely.

"What will we do if the Emperor is present?" one of the other Jedi asked, picking at a spot on his dark robes, clearly the wrong size for his frame.

"We will do what we intend to do in any circumstance, do not engage him, release Ms. Granger and retreat. Hopefully Commander Flitwick will arrive with reinforcements to cover our escape, and we continue the resistance as we have been." She repeated again.

"But what if…? Another persisted, and Ist sighed.

There was no shortage in the amount of worries that this mission accompanied. They had very little in the way of a plan, and without outside intervention they might not succeed anyway, but if the Emperor for his hands of their leader, then the Rebellion might be well and truly lost. Hermione had all the secrets of their strongholds, their movement and numbers, everything. And there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Emperor would have ways enough to extract that information from her.

"We will adjust the plan once we have more information of what we're up against," she finally said, silencing them and turning to stand next to the Admiral.

The red haired Mage-born was watching their progress on a holographic chart, which marked their own ship on the old Republic route, and the ship with Hermione on the Imperial route. "It will be close," he said, indicating the two dots that indicated the fleets, "We'll arrive just barely behind them, and if we're not exact on our removal from Hyperspace, the time it would take to sub-light over they might have Hermione in a shuttle and on her way down to the planet."

"So we should have fighters prepared to launch the movement we leave, to cut off and force any shuttle back to the waiting ship?" Ist suggested.

"I doubt that the Empire would not send an escort down with it, and that would hinder fighters alone. We would most likely need to send a strike team to follow them wherever they went and extract Hermione from them planet side." Weasley replied, and Ist frowned.

That would not go over well with anyone here. It was well rumored that the Emperor could sense if a Jedi or anyone loyal to the Rebellion set foot on Coruscant, and despite the ridicules nature of the rumor it nevertheless had power over many of their minds.

Still, she nodded. "So we'll prepare an assault force with fighter escort to pursue any possible shuttles heading out from the other ship, while the cruiser engages with the rest of the fighters."

Weasley looked thoughtful, "Yes," he said, "that seems to be our only option. I don't like it, but it's the best we can do with the resources we have."

"Hopefully Commander Flitwick arrives with reinforcements swiftly," Ist said, but she noticed the grimace that crossed Weasley's face as she said it, "What?" she asked.

"It is unlikely that we will get any reinforcements for this quickly," Weasley said slowly, hesitating. "The distance is too great between Bakura and Coruscant, and we had taken the majority of our strong fighters and pilots for the original attack to claim this ship. There won't be much left at Bakura to make use of…"

Ist allowed that news to sink in. "Then we're more or less alone in our mission…" she stated, more to herself than to anyone else. Staring ahead into the swirling vortex of Hyperspace, she thought hard. Everything relied on them. Unless…

"Open all communication channels, every encrypted code that we have, and broadcast the message of an assault on Coruscant," she said swiftly, surprising the admiral, "if we can get even a handful of fighters to aid us, that would be something…"

"If we do that, we might also signal out enemies to encircle around us…" Weasley said hesitantly.

"It's a chance that we might have no other choice but to take," Ist replied, starting away from the bridge. "I'll make sure that our shuttles are prepared to launch the moment we break out of Hyperspace."

"As you wish…" the admiral stated, and Ist departed, the weight of what was about to commence heavy on her shoulders.

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Zhar had had enough. Despite his extra apprentice running about putting out fires, literal and metaphoric, all across New Kaas City, the other local council members of Dromund Kaas continued to create chaos throughout the planet for him to deal with.

Instead of continuing this farce, he was about to cut the head from the snake altogether. Euka was preoccupied in researching what secrets were in the capital's vaults and archives, and therefore Zhar was to deal with this himself.

Jol Tugno, his newest apprentice let in the other members of the local council to the meeting chambers where Zhar was waiting. The Duros was a very loyal member of their team, and hated the other members of the hierarchy of the Empire passionately.

That hatred was the perfect tool to bend the male being to Zhar's view of the Galaxy, and their need to escape the ruthless destruction of the Sith. And eliminating the local council would be a decent start here on Dromund Kaas, he mused upon as an afterthought.

"What is the meaning of this meeting?" Snarlfang, the sole goblin in the higharchy of the Empire to leave Veneficus' home world said, toothily smirking at Zhar.

Eleven figures of prominence and Dark Side power over those of the planet, and Zhar was only partially sure that he could defeat them as he rose from the Supreme Prophet's throne and drew his saber.

"You are being disloyal to the orders of the Emperor," he said, as part of his excuse for this cleansing, even as his blade activated, "and it is time for a new council to be formed for Dromund Kaas… a council that does not include you…"

"You are a fool to think you can defeat us all!" Prophet Saquesh Noloff retorted, facial tentacles of the Quarren visibly twitching as his rage built.

"But do I need to?" Zhar added, smirking, "Who would ascend to the leadership role when I am gone?"

And with that small seed of discord throw into the mix, he advanced, even as Jol Tugno sealed the door behind him. The Duros had already been given his instructions to not allow the door to be opened until the fighting stopped, and if Zhar had not survived, to kill whomever remained. Better that Euka take charge and continue their plan that for any of these fools to take command of the reins.

The torrent of crimson blades illuminated the room as every member of the council took out their weapons. But the fools did not think that Zhar would be as aggressive as this, and he was already upon them, bashing through the hasty defenses of Sullustan Prophet Jae Nian, cleaving through the being's torso and eliminating him swiftly.

"Ten…" Zhar said, beginning a countdown to their defeat.

Prophet Om'seca charged him, the Twi'lek's saberstaff whirling over her head as she closed distance. Switching to Soresu, and much more confident in his skills with the style after using it far more and with motivation, Zhar backed away slowly from the rampaging twin blades of the staff.

Val Elnen leapt over their heads, the male human's skill in Ataru being shown as he tried to flank Zhar and attack from the other end. Turning to counter a hasty strike, Zhar started to bat himself back and forth between the two combatants, waiting for an opening.

The tiresome methods of Ataru eventually took their toll on both his assailents, and Zhar struck, kicking Val Elnen in the chest, and leaping forward to slam his blade through the man with a hasty Djem So strike.

"Nine…" he muttered, dodging to the side from the stabbing blade of Om'seca's staff.

Slamming his own blade on top of hers, he forced them both down, before reversing his strength and slashing upward through the Twi'lek's torso, cleaving her in two. The wide, empty eyes stared upward as the body rolled away, opening some breathing room for Zhar before the next group launched themselves at him.

As he had predicted, the hottest heads of the council had thrown themselves away first, and the remaining eight were just as wary of each other as they were on him. "Eight…" he taunted, wondering who would be provoked into attempting to slay him next.

Snarlfang seemed like he particularly wanted to, but the hesitation against potential betrayal gave way for others to make the wrong choice. Dithul stepped forward, and Zhar knew what was about to happen. The Ithorian had a powerful talent for creating sonic-based attacks with the Force, and Zhar quickly created a shield around his ears to try and dilute the damage as the Prophet unleashed a piercing bellow.

Zhar smirked, as that attack alone started the battle between the prophets, as Pana Bibble silenced the sonic blast by starting to strangle the Ithorian with the Force. The others fell into infighting just as quickly, and for a few moments Zhar was able to relax and amuse himself by watching the chaos.

However, Snarlfang clearly had been waiting for this to happen as well, and charged at him with duel shoto sabers drawn, the crimson and violet blades weaving around in front of him as he moved.

Ducking back as the goblin leapt into the air, Zhar blocked the wild, double attack that Snarlfang opened with, and spun away from the diminutive figure and his lightning fast counter.

Knowing that he had to turn the conflict around in order to survive the smaller weapons in the goblin's hands, Zhar switched back to Djem So, and advanced with a powerful downward swing. He altered to a diagonal upward cut when the goblin predictably dodged; forcing Snarlfang to cross his own sabers into an X and block the second attack.

Relishing the battle of physical strength, Zhar applied as much force and pressure as he could, slowly edging the three blades close to the goblin. Behind them, the other prophets were too distracted killing each other to even notice and Zhar grinned widely at the goblin.

He was not prepared; therefore, when the goblin lashed out with a powerful blast of telekinesis, which threw him through the melee of Prophets and into the massive, sealed door.

All combat stopped, and Zhar was disappointed to note that only three of the remaining eight prophets had fallen by their own blades, including Prophet Dithul. It seemed that the forceful reminder of his presence snapped them all out of the chaotic stupor that Zhar had orchestrated, and the five refocused on him in a unified front.

Even as they edged forward, Zhar threw out a hand, allowing bolts of lightning to expel from his fingers, but the Bothan inquisitor, Lo Sei'Dov, countered with her own blue white torrent, even as Saquesh Noloff and Pana Bibblie advanced on him, their sabers held in ready positions.

"Enough of this…" Zhar said, pressing a button on his wrist communicator.

From the vaulted ceiling, metal spheres dropped, red lights flashing on them as the explosives were armed and set to explode upon any contact.

Throwing himself to the side, Zhar escaped the first few explosions as the Prophets tried to throw the explosives away from them with the Force.

Only when the sound ceased did Zhar reemerge. Another two were dead from the surprise attack, leaving only Snarlfang, Lo, and Saquesh to face him.

Now that a scant handful remained, Zhar stopped playing on the defensive. Charging in, he hacked viciously at Saquesh's knees, forcing the Quarren to jump, even as Snarlfang ran from his rearmost position to join the other two. Sei'Dov jumped back, out of saber range and leveled her hands at Zhar, but he dodged the blast of lightning from the prophet, reflecting it with a swift cut of his blade and allowing the electric current to reflect off his blade into Saquesh as he landed.

The Quarren fell to his knees from the sudden attack, but recovered quickly. Snarlfang arrived, and the duel wielder pressed himself to the offense, hammering away as Zhar's blade as he tried to break through the Supreme Prophet's guard.

The Bothan inquisitor tried to move to a better spot and target him with more lightning, but Zhar caught her off guard with the Force, lifting her into the air and choking her, even as he batted away the smaller weapons of the goblin.

Saquesh started to edge abck into the battle, and Zhar hurled Sei'Dov toward the Quarren, forcing the tentacle-faced being to duck out of the way of the flying Bothan.

Snarlfang scored a shallow strike on Zhar's leg, and his concentration on the other two was diverted, even as Zhar kicked back at the goblin, connecting viciously with the dimuitive being's torso, and sending him flying backward.

Saquesh charged in, but Zhar was done with the fools. Embracing the Dark Side fully, he allowed the rage and power of his emotion consume him. Time slowed, and he dodged around the Quarren's pitiful attack and lodged his own saber into the back of the aqua being, dropping him like a stone.

Snarlfang leapt at him, in slow motion, even as Sei'Dov started to rise to her feet. Charging at the Bothan quickly, Zhar swiped upward, cutting through the goblin lengthwise, and vaulted toward the final Prophet, impaling the female through the chest with his saber.

Time reverted, and the surprise on the Bothan's face was multiplied by seeing Snarlfang fall in pieces from the air. "I warned you all not to mess with my power and authority," Zhar stated flatly, withdrawing the saber and allowing her to fall to the ground.

She died quickly, her heart skewered and now burned from within. Zhar looked over the terrible mess of the other eleven Prophets, and consulted the time. The battle had been decidedly shorter than he had expected it would take.

Leaving the room, Zhar addressed his apprentice, "incinerate the interior of that room…" he ordered, "it will be easier to simply replace it than clean and explain the mess…"


	29. C28: Temple Liberation

**Many thanks to those who've read, and those who've reviewed! We continue progressing toward the climax, and intrigue abounds. Please enjoy the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Eight**

 **Temple Liberation**

Diábolis was impressed that Ms. Granger had restrained herself to merely recovering her tool and weapon, rather than attempting to make use of it against him. Undoubtedly she was planning to gain some sort of advantage through this infiltration of the Coruscant Imperial Palace. Diábolis did not care for the time being. So long as he got what he wanted he could always kill her later. There were ways for him to locate her through the Force now that he had interacted with her.

Strangely enough, he knew that this was possible, and yet Veneficus had never used that technique to locate them before. Clearly he had had adequate contact with the female Mage-born, and therefore could do so whenever he wished. Unless he honestly hadn't considered her a threat, or else there was something that she had done that could prevent even the Force from locating her.

Still, as they flew down from orbit in a stealth shuttle, he kept these thoughts and worries to himself. They were here to find the ultimate secret of his Master, and through that Diábolis would ascend to the throne of the Galaxy himself.

With them in the shuttle, a squad of elite assault troopers carried the weapons that the Mage-born indicated would harm the crazed beast that Veneficus kept in the sewers of the palace. They were an archaic design, long range rifles that shot the prewar blaster bolts that lacked any of the magi-technology that had been pilfered from the woman they flew with. She had obviously been affronted that they held so many of her designs and work, but Diábolis had only smirked when she scowled, and moved on when she indicated that they were not what they needed for the beast.

"Are you sure that these will work?" he asked again, probably for the tenth or eleventh time, but he wanted to be absolutely sure.

"They are the only thing that you had that will pierce the magically resistant hide of the creature." She replied, annoyed at the constant asking, "And even still it may take several shots to bring it down."

"I hope, for your sake, you're right." Diábolis said, adding only a subtle threat.

She only rolled her eyes in response.

Soon enough they landed in a small square only a few streets away from the entrance ot the Palace sewers. Diábolis led them to the entrance swiftly, keeping out of sight just in case there were any fools that dared to draw close to this particular location.

Holding up a hand to stop them as they arrived at the entrance, Diábolis unclipped his twinsaber from his belt. "From here we go cautiously." He warned, even as the troopers drew their weapons, and Ms. Granger took out her wand.

Slowly, Diábolis led the way into the sewers, sweeping the area with the Force to try and sense where the beast was hiding. He could sense nothing, but that meant little as the beast apparently had its own gifts with the Force.

"So, if this massive serpent has the ability to hide itself from all know means of detection, how will we flush it out?" Granger asked, and Diábolis frowned at being questioned, but gestured at some of the troopers. They produced small pikes from their supplies, "These have been designed to make a sonic boom on a low frequency every few seconds." He explained, and Granger's eyes brightened.

"You'll draw it with the vibrations, which as a snake it will be sensitive to," she said, and Diábolis smirked coolly. If she wasn't so diametrically against the Empire, he could have seen them working well together. Perhaps he would give her a chance to officially join him, with promises of power and control over the Empire, a near compromise that might peak her interest enough to serve him.

The troopers went about placing the devices in every space that they could lodge one safely. Meanwhile, the two with the long range sniper blasters found a clear area to set up and wait for their shots. Diábolis and Granger observed from the rearmost area of the sewer from this place, and Diábolis fingered the trigger that would activate all the devices until the troopers were well away from them.

"Ready?" he said, and Granger nodded. He pressed the trigger, and at once all the devices started their pulsating, the rhythmic thumps echoing through the tunnels. Within moments, Diábolis sensed the movement of the beast as it dropped all sense of stealth and came flooding to their location. The Sith Lord could only presume what the beast must have thought that the sound resembled. A section of the murky water exploded upward, and the crimson beast reared up and towered over them.

"Open fire!" Diábolis shouted, and the other troopers started bombarding the creature's hide with their weapons, distracting it with trifling attacks that only served to anger the beast. But even as the serpent started to dive down and bite at the troopers, Diábolis shot out a hand, unleashing a blast of lightning to catch the serpent in the head, just under the eye.

The shock and surprise of the attack did more than any damage, forceing the creature to rear back once more, and as it turned Diábolis knew that the other eye of the creature was now exposed to the scopes of the snipers. Half a dozen rapid shots rang out, the old weapons spraying bolts with deadly accuracy.

Despite this, the creature moved swiftly, and dodged most of the bolts, although a few struck true. The creature roared in pain and the one eye was blackened and useless to it. It slammed headlong into one of the walls and bucked back. Its concentration disrupted, Diábolis then pounced. Using the Force, he threw the head of the creature the other way, allowing the snipers to take the shot once more, and brought the creature down.

The beast collapsed with a massive splash into the murky water, and Diábolis called for them to move quickly. It was unlikely that such noise went unnoticed from those far above them, and he wanted to be far from here when the investigation teams arrived.

Granger hesitated, looking at the corpse of the beast, and while Diábolis suspected that she did not care that such a monster was killed, she more likely wanted to run some tests or take a sample or two from the body. "There's no time," he said, snapping her out of her thoughts, and he hurried to follow them.

Flooding through the narrow passages of the labyrinth, it was particularly simple to navigate with the beast dead and out of the way, Diábolis found the secret lift in the center of the maze. They piled in, and Diábolis hit the button form them to ascend.

"That was the easy part," he said, confirming what all the troopers likely feared. There would be significantly more to come, and the horror that the royal Arcanamach could exact probably exceeded the quick and painless dead that being devoured by the serpent would ever cause.

Displaying a small holographic map of the palace from his wrist device, Diábolis pointed to where they would arrive after the lift finished its process, "We'll be very close to our target from here, just outside the archive, and for all I know the Emperor has set his guards to protect the valuables that he treasures above anything else."

Moving to point at the chamber he had marked previously when he scouted out the archive, he continued, "This is where I suspect his secrets are held, Ms. Granger, that will be where your skills in the Wild Force are required."

"I understand," the woman replied, "I'll just need time to analyze the wards and how to undo them without trigger whatever curses may be attached to them."

Diábolis nodded, "That's why the troopers will go and cause a small disturbance on the far side of the temple, and I myself will guard you in case we're discovered."

The Sith could tell that she was not pleased with this arrangement, and it probably tied into the unknown scheme that the woman was planning. Diábolis wouldn't be surprised if she sought to take command of the automated defense platforms over Coruscant and shut down the planet to Imperial traffic.

Truth be told, when he thought about it as the lift arrived at the end of its ride, that most assuredly had to be what she planned. And he would even be willing to let her do it, as it would allow him to slip away unnoticed and make the entire incident look like a rebel attack rather than his plot against Veneficus.

As soon as the doors opened, Diábolis gestured and the troopers fanned out, scouting the archive for any signs of life. Walking ahead of Granger, the Sith Lord pierced the eerie silence with the Force, curiously finding no signs of Force sensitive life in the chamber, which was as equally good as it was concerning to them.

Indicating the door in question, he watched as the Rebel leader went straight for it, her wand already flicking in the complicated patterns of their magic to decipher the hidden powers that kept it sealed.

"I don't like it, my Lord," the lead trooper stated, approaching Diábolis, "It's too silent here, something's not right…"

Diábolis didn't respond, but silently he agreed. The Emperor was not here, and that knowledge left a hollow pit in the Devaronian's gut. Where had Veneficus gone that was more important than his secret work here in the core of the Galaxy?

Still, they had their orders, and the troopers departed to make their distraction. Surely with the Emperor gone a least some of the Arcanamach remained to guard his precious archive, and Diábolis did not favor the idea of engaging them if he could avoid it.

Thus, he waited on edge, saber hilt in hand but not activated, just sensing if there was anything amiss in the building. Minutes passed, with the only sound being the quiet mutterings of Granger as she used spell after spell to probe the defenses of Veneficus' door.

"Any progress to report?" Diábolis asked at one point, but she ignored him, concentrated on something she had found, working her wand like a spanner to try and tear some unseen thing away.

The Sith Lord narrowed his eyes, but not regarding the woman. It had been long past the time that normal patrols would have rounded through this area, and yet nothing had appeared. Suddenly, the foundation rocked with the force of the explosion of the distraction. Diábolis knew that meant that his force had engaged with the guards, and were warning him of their presence.

He turned, activating his weapon just as the Force called a split second warning. He dodged backward, avoiding the impact of the saberpike as a royal guard dropped from an upper floor.

"Lord Diábolis…" the guard said, his voice muffled behind the heavy helmet that he wore, "You are not permitted on this world, and the Emperor has ordered your execution…"

"I thought as much," Diábolis said, brandishing his weapon and hoping to keep the guard's attention on him and not Granger. The longer she could work undisturbed, the sooner they could get past the door.

"I will enjoy taking your head to the Emperor personally," The guard added sinisterly, and lunged forward, his pike aimed like a spear at Diábolis' face.

It was painfully simple to dodge out of the way, but Diábolis knew that was what the guard wanted. They were trained by Veneficus himself, and were no sloughs at combat. He parried, holding his ground and dropping to a crouch to slip under the attack. Crimson blades clashed off each other and sparks flew.

Diábolis countered, trying to ram the other end of his twinblade into the armored body of the guard, knowing that the weave of the body armor would block most of the saber's impact, but still throwing the Arcanamach back. The armored boots the masked man wore slowed his movement, and he reoriented himself quickly.

Diábolis spun his saber quickly, blocking the probing stabs of the pike as the royal guard tried to attack without closing distance, even as he pulled more of the natural Dark Side aura of the palace into himself. Blue-white lightning exploded outward from his outstretch hand, ricocheting over the open air and collecting on the blade of the royal guard, who still was forced back another step from the sudden manifestation of the Force.

What the Devaronian did not expect was for the guard to throw back the lightning with an easy grace, and leapt forward, eliminating all the distance between them as he tried to slam the base of the overlarge saber hilt into Diábolis' face.

He had understood that these guards had been specially bred to serve the Emperor, given power over the Force in addition to their natural Wild Force abilities, but he did not fathom that they would have been particularly powerful when compared to a full Sith.

He took their existence as a personal affront now. They may have been bred for their purpose of slavery, but Diábolis had been chosen to be the equal of their master, a Sith Emperor in his own right and due time. And that time was nigh; he wouldn't let them stand in his way.

Indignation surged through him, and he allowed the Force to rage outward in a telekinetic wave, slamming the guard backward once more, and crashing into a reinforce pillar of the room. Surprisingly, as the man impacted the pillar, chains and ropes spontaneously appeared, wrapping themselves around the figure and binding him fast to the pillar.

Diábolis turned to see Granger, her wand aimed at the guard, the door behind her slowly opening. He smirked at her ingenuity. It was no wonder that his master had wanted to preserve her for as long as he did.

Crossing the distance to her and the door swiftly, Diábolis took point as they entered the chamber beyond, the door sealing itself behind them once they had passed. Lights slowly illuminated the chamber, and Diábolis found himself in a laboratory of some sort. Esoteric charts and maps were on the walls, and countless trinkets and devices littered the tables.

Dominating the center of the room was a large cauldron, filled with bubbling red liquid, but Diábolis took little notice of this. He focused on the datapad on the main table, which seemed to hold some measure of importance over everything else. Gingerly he lifted it, and activated the records therein.

While not a personalized journal or some other record, it nevertheless detailed much of the Emperor's experiments with the search for immortality. The latest entry was fairly recent. It detailed that the Emperor had secretly gone to a secret vault on one of the prime Sith worlds, and discovered means of a special ritual that would grant him what he sought at long last.

Diábolis' eyes widened as he took in the full importance of what he was reading. Veneficus had found the secret of immortality, and was heading to Ruusan to enact the ritual himself. If he wasn't stopped, Diábolis would never have his opportunity to rise, and would most likely die in the attempt to wrest control away from an all powerful Sith Emperor who couldn't die.

He had to go now, and put an end to this ruse of a Master-Apprentice relationship. Granger had made a quick circuit of the room, in awe of all the items therein, but Diábolis was through with her, and contrary to all his previous momentary thoughts, he needed to tie up this loose end. "I have found what I needed," he said, indicated the datapad.

Granger started closer, but Diábolis moved faster than she, one blade of his saber finding its way into her torso, "and with that," he hissed, as she gasped and staggered backward, knocking heavily into the large cauldron and sinking to her knees, "my need for you has ended…"

The wound was mortal, but he had wanted her to suffer somewhat before she died in a few minutes, but he lacked the time to stay and watch. Stopping Veneficus was the highest priority at the moment. Leaving her to wither and die in the silence of the chamber, Diábolis swiftly retraced his steps, leaving the troopers behind as well to die fighting the guards.

He would depart long before whatever trick Granger had started arrived, and be well on his way to defeating Veneficus once and for all. Clutching the data pad for all he was worth, Diábolis knew that all the information here regarding that ritual would be invaluable for him to stop it, and make sure that Veneficus was weakened enough for the apprentice to at last kill the master.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione felt her life leaving her. The bastard, Diábolis, had betrayed her, much as she had expected of him, but he had made a terrible miscalculation.

Hermione's hand dug in her robe for a vial, which she had stealthily used to collect something from this room with the power to save her life. The moment she had laid her eyes on the cauldron, she had known what was inside.

The Elixir of Life…

The Emperor had kept much of it prepared for whatever occasion he needed, and the fool of an apprentice either did not notice its significance, or else had no understanding of the ways of magic that the mage-born possessed. Downing the sweet liquid in one swallow, Hermione felt the pain of her near-fatal wound abate. Her clothes would be damaged from the energy blade that had impaled her, but underneath the skin and organs knitted themselves without a fuss.

"I can't believe that it's real…" she breathed, looking from her fingers probing the healed skin of her chest and the vial, which contained a few drops of the precious liquid still.

She had to collect as much as she could, and hope that even without the stone itself Severus could synthesize more. As soon as she felt strong enough, she rose back to her feet, and quickly went about draining the cauldron into as many vials as she could find in her heavily dimensionally expanded pockets.

There was an explosion somewhere else in the former temple, and Hermione had a feeling that there was supposed to be some sort of diversion so that Diábolis could escape. But she too could use it as a diversion for her own plan. It was unlikely that anyone would come to this room, and with a master console in the corner that she had immediately noticed when they had entered, she could do a ton of damage to the system without even leaving the room.

A few choice charms to bar the door just in case anyone tried to enter, she approached the console and lifted her wand. She had noticed that in this room, the Emperor had specifically strongly used magic here out of all chambers and places in the former temple. It was as though he resisted using his heritage in favor of the traditional Sith methods, or even thought that the classical training that he had lived through were superior.

Hermione hoped that she could help show him otherwise, and reinforce the strength of magic in the man's insane mind. The charms over the console were simple, and Hermione removed them with little effort. She still had a sample of her virus from when she had been captured, and eagerly she fed the data stick into the console, urging on her creation to take on the largest target that she could have hoped to use it on.

Process was much slower, the security on the planet-bound facility much higher than on a military cruiser, and Hermione had time while it uploaded and found its key targets to explore the room fully. From what Diábolis had taken, she guessed it was a map where the Emperor was currently located, and that the man was up to something that worried even the monster of an apprentice. Let him deal with the Sith Lord, hopefully they would kill each other, and if not them Hermione would be here, stripping the victor of their prize and reestablishing the capital world of the Republic.

There were many tomes and artifacts of magical origin, and Hermione was amazed that Harry had left so many things, with how much it seemed that he had despised their magic and their advantage in the universe. She knew that Severus would have a field day with the amount of information on their enemy in this private chamber alone and therefore left as much alone as she could.

The console pinged, informing her that a system had been rerouted to her, and she went to investigate which had fallen to her virus first.

She smirked when she found that it was the external communication system, for both deep-space messaging as well as planet wide communications. Fingers flying over the keys, Hermione input a clear message to the rebellion, notifying them of the situation and urging them to send all available forces to seize control of Coruscant. Adding her personal security clearance, she hoped that they would believe and not presume that she had been compromised. She was prepared for that possibility as well, and sent an even heavier encrypted message back to _Sanctuary_ , calling for all the war-droids that she had held in reserve to activate and engage with protocol one.

Protocol one summoned them all to her side, and utilized a scale model of her old super-ship. They would fly as swift as the ship allowed, like the phoenix rising from the flames, and smash through the picket lines guarding the Republic capital to liberate it from Imperial control.

As she prepared these messages, she also started a text-based broadcast across Coruscant, decrying the Sith Lords and calling for all who would listen to rise up and rebel, as the war was not over, and the Republic would be restored. The propaganda might not be terribly effective on such a morally crushed world, but it would sow confusion and help whatever forces were coming to get on planet.

Several other systems pinged as they fell under her control, and Hermione flew into a frenzy of issuing commands, locking off the archive from all intrusion, and marking the royal guards as enemies so that the auto-defenses would engage them as well as other intruders. Even the orbiting defense platforms were turned on their Imperial masters, and Hermione laughed at the chaos that she created.

This was just the beginning, and her eyes flashed as all imperial codes started to scan before her as her virus pierced the information vaults of the Emperor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist stood with Admiral Weasley as they observed the long range message that they had intercepted in Hyperspace. "I don't know what to think…" the red haired officer said, even as Ist read it for the third time. It was Director Granger's security clearance, and declared a full assault on Coruscant, explaining that she had seized control of the Imperial palace and was creating a riot across the planet to cover their invasion.

"It is something she'd realistically do, given the chance…" Ist said honestly. And it was true. The problem was whether she was acting in their interest, or if it was a very convincing ruse to lure them into a trap.

"Do we divert our course, or push onward?" the Admiral said, submitting to Ist's judgment. It was endearing that even now, the former military of the Republic greatly respected the intuition of the Jedi, and Ist did have a conviction in the matter. "We go on," she said, "if it's a trap, we will be the first to know, and can stop others from walking into it."

"They might not expect us to respond so swiftly," Weasley added, smirking at the idea. They were already within hours of the central planet of the Galaxy, and once they arrived, it would be apparent instantly if it was a trap or not. They could prepare a jump to some other direction just in case, and activate it should the Imperials to try and trap them.

Soon enough, they arrived at the outskirts of the Coruscanti orbit, and Ist unconsciously held her breath as they pulled out of Hyperspace. It left her in a sudden whoosh as she observed the chaos that had appeared before them.

Coruscant was in flames.

Even from orbit they could see that large sections of the city-planet seemed to have rioted in response to a very real message that Director Granger had spread out across the planet. The orbital platforms had also turned on the small fleets surrounding the Core world, and were firing nonstop at each other. Meanwhile, from all directions there were small squadrons of ships appearing from various systems and planets across the Galactic Core.

Apparently the Empire had been heavily oppressing the wealthy core worlds and limiting their abundant freedoms, and the moment that the rebel broadcast appeared signaling that Coruscant was a target, they had rallied to get a piece of the action themselves.

It was unlikely that they all had such noble ambitions, and Ist was sure that there were more than a few bandits and pirates hoping to take advantage of the chaos and steal whatever they want. Ist would have preferred not to have to temporarily allow such things to occur, but their objective stood. They were bound now for the former Jedi Temple, and rescuing Director Granger from the very heart of their enemy's fortress.

Despite the heavy aura of the Dark Side around the planet, it did not seem that the Emperor was present at the battle, which would simplify the worst of their problems. "I want those shuttles launching as soon as were close enough to cover your decent," Admiral Weasley said, turning to face Ist, "Good hunting. We'll keep your route of escape open as long as we can."

"Thank you admiral," Ist replied, activating her comlink as she turned away, "It is time," was all she had to say. Every Jedi on the ship knew the signal, and would be making their way to the hangar and the waiting shuttles for their drop into the center of the most heavily protected planet barring the Imperial Core worlds.

Checking her gear as she walked, Ist nodded to herself. She had everything she could possibly need for a general situation. The advantage that they had was that they were entering their former home. And while many of the Jedi Knights with them had never set foot inside the temple before, they had enough that the trek to wherever the Commander of the Rebellion was holed up would go as smoothly as possible.

Ist arrived in the Hangar in time to hear the general announcement from the bridge. "We are in high orbit over Coruscant. Shuttles, launch now. Bring our leader home!"

Climbing aboard among a dozen rebel troopers and just over half that number in Jedi, Ist steeled her nerves for what they were to find on the surface below. The shuttle doors rattled shut and they were thrown into darkness.

"We're going in for a hot landing, so everyone had best be ready for some turbulence," the pilot stated, even as the ship shuddered to life and lifted off. Ist tried to read the Force auras of their companions, but it was a large mash of the same emotions and feelings. Smothered worry and edginess from the prospect of battle, mixed with nervous excitement for something as pivotal as the Galactic Core world.

Not for the first time, Ist wished that Master Lovegood had survived whatever strange fate it was that she had met fighting with Gor-lak and Veneficus on Dathomir, in order to see this moment. Clutching her saber in one hand, and the overhanging straps with the other for stability, she braced herself against every jarring motion as the shuttle plunged through the atmosphere of the city-planet.

"We're entering the precincts of the former Jedi Temple now. Look alive boys and girls!" the pilot said, and soon the ship rocked sharply as they dodged the plasma spray of a defense turret.

Within moments they had touched down, and the boarding ramp of the shuttle dropped heavily, revealing what almost looked like an active warzone. The riots had done a great deal of damage as beings converged on the Imperial Palace. There were streams of blaster-fire and explosions of grenades and other ordinance up the massive staircase that once was lined by the statues of great Jedi Masters of countless ages past.

Rushing out of the shuttle along with the rest of the group, Ist had to shield her head as the shuttle lifted off once more the moment they were clear of it, going back swiftly to ferry down their reinforcements.

"It's time to take by our ancestral home," Ist said, fixing her face on the stairs of the Temple, and refusing to be distracted as she advanced with the other Jedi to the nexus of Force energy. As they mounted the stairs, the chaos before them between the guards, Royal Arcanamach, and rioters was intense, the riots being out matched and out gunned despite having the upper hand in numbers.

The snap-hiss of their many lightsabers stunned the entire melee between the Jedi and the gates of their temple. Ist knew that they clearly struck a significant nerve in those that saw them, hope resurging in those that fought for their freedom, and fear in those that though them extinct.

"For the Republic! For the Light!" Ist screamed, and as one the half dozen initial Jedi ran at their adversaries. The dark adepts, Royal Guards, and Imperial soldiers rushed to oppose them, while the rioters cheered and struck back against the Imperials, hemming them in on both flanks so that the Jedi had a limited section to face off against.

Ist knew that they were sorely outnumbered, but this was an important move to make, as not only did it put a powerful front against the Sith and their minions, but it would also notify Director Granger that they were here, and that she needed to do what she could to aid their entry to the Temple.

Almost as though she heard Ist's thoughts, the various automatic defenses that protected the Jedi Temple in ages past shot up into activity, rapid-fire blaster shots ripping through the ranks of the Imperial warriors. The combination acted together as the perfect distraction to the mainstay of the Force-based Imperial forces, allowing the half dozen Jedi to engage their front ranks without being swarmed three to one.

Ist, for her part, lunged forward and clashed lightly off the crimson blade that attempted to block a far stronger swing than she gave. This allowed her to redirect her strike, and with the flick of her wrist being the probing tip of her yellow saber to bear, skewering the dark adept in the neck, killing him instantly.

Typically, the Jedi looked down upon the Shiak, or the fatal stab, aside from times of war. And as far as Ist was concerned, this battle was just the recommencement of the same war that had being going on between the Jedi and the Sith for countless years.

There were so many that they had to get through just to enter the old temple, that Ist figured that everyone of their force would need to commit many such war-time acts in order to turn the overwhelming tide against them.

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Hermione was overjoyed when she saw, through the many Temple security cameras, the return of the Jedi to the temple that was once theirs alone. Swiftly, she keyed in commands for the automatic defenses to protect their old masters and to fight the Imperial occupiers.

She had thought for a time that all that would be fighting the good fight here would be herself and the rioters that emerged from all walks of life to rebel against the imperial hierarchy that had imposed themselves here on the central Core world in light of Veneficus' presence.

But for the rebellion to arrive so swiftly added a stamp of official action to their fight here, and a rallying point for the rioters to fall behind. If they succeeded in liberating the Jedi temple, they would gain a foothold on the planet that would be near impossible for most of the Empire to shake again.

Luckily, the guards of the temple had not as of yet discovered where Hermione was hiding, although she could see that they were searching for her with everything they had. The virus prevented them from electronically scanning the temple, which added to her anonymity. Opening the front doors of the temple, she set the auto-cannons to maximum and watched the Imperial forces fall back as their own guns turned on them with a vengeance.

The Jedi cut through the initial line of the Imperial Dark Adepts, and charged through to the entrance of the temple. Hermione knew that the moment they got inside, they would have the home field advantage. Even those Jedi who had never before set foot inside the Coruscant temple would feel the residue of Light Side energy that hearkened back to the old times before the Sith won the war with the Republic.

Monitoring their advance through the corridors of the temple, and the attempts of the Imperial royal guards to try and counter their infiltration. Smirking at her power, Hermione opened and sealed doors, activated lights in a sporadic pattern, and did everything in her technological power to direct the Jedi strike force in the right direction, and avoid as many of the guards as they could as they drove further and further to the most secured section of the temple, the Archive where Hermione hid.

She wanted them here for several reasons, but the primary one was that a small group of the royal guards were trying to get into the archive, likely for some other reason that nothing to do with Hermione's presence there, but once inside the chance of discovery would be significantly higher. Hermione would very much prefer to remain in control of the technology across the plant that her control of the Temple allotted, and having a Jedi guard and funneling their enemies to them would buy her all the time she wanted.

Apparently, the lead Jedi, the brilliant Bothan Ist, had a suspicion that Hermione was there helping them, as she occasionally weaved at a camera as their group passed, heading perfectly in sync with the directions that Hermione offered to them.

The virus signaled another system falling under her control, and Hermione paused to check it. She froze when she read the characters. "What in Merlin's name?"

She couldn't describe the amount of hatred that she felt at learning what the madman of an Emperor had kept beneath this temple. There were far more dangerous and disgusting secrets than even Diábolis had been aware of.

She had never thought there was room for such a large vault under the temple, but according to the readout, some of the darkest aspects of the Sith religion were being kept there. but why would such a interior place require such security?

This required investigation, but Hermione would not be able to get there alone. Hacking the intercom of the temple, she scanned for the frequencies of the Jedi comlinks. It would be eaier to guide them if she could verbally communicate the instructions to meet at the far end of the archive.

As the scanner went on, Hermione set to work constructing a portable version of the console, allowing her to move and keep in control of the automatic functions of the planet. The communication crackled to life, and she smirked.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked, "Who is this?"

"Director Granger," Hermione replied, "This is the Jedi strike team I assume," she said.

"Director!" the voice responded, "Jedi Knight Ist, it's great to hear your voice again. We're in route to your location, thank you for helping direct us away from the patrols and counters from the Imperials."

"I'll be grateful for the assistance, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep the Imperials from searching this area, and there's something I've found that we need to investigate."Hermione explained.

"Understood, we'll be there shortly," Ist replied, and Hermione heard the traditional sound of lightsabers igniting, "As soon as we get past these guards…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ist cut the communication with Director Granger as they arrived outside the Temple Archives. There was a squad of royal Arcanamach waiting outside, seeming to have been trying to get through some sort of security lock. Ist was willing to bet that that was caused by the Director, and she was eager to get through and reunite with their leader.

Dashing forward, she sliced upward, catching the end of the Dark Adept's hastily raised saber, knocking the crimson blade out of the way and opening the figure's torso for the counter-stab through the heart. The shock of their sudden appearance had granted the other Jedi a momentary advantage to eliminate those guards outside the entrance.

The moment the last one fell, the door sprung open and they darted inside. Sensors and other electronics in the archive were powered on, and they could see through the screens that their pursuers were being hampered by closing blast doors and other natural hindrances.

One of the many side rooms of the Archive opened, and Director Granger emerged, waving them down to the level she was on and tapping furiously on a datapad in her arms.

"Leave it to the director to find the one way to sow chaos into even the most secure of systems," one of the other Jedi commented, and Ist smirked, before throwing herself over the edge and letting the Force slow her decent to the bottom level of the Archive.

"I've sent out the encrypted distress call back to our allies," the Director explained as she approached, still focused on the pad in her arms, "they may not have much to send to aid us, but if we can move as many of our people here we can take the temple as our formard base of operations."

"It's been a strange series of attacks and counters the last few days," Ist commented, and Hermione nodded in response.

"It's only just started, too…" she added, "We need to go this way to investigate the strange thing I found. But I warn you, it's likely the source of the Emperor's power here in the Dark Side."

"Anything that gives us an advantage," Ist said, clutching her saber and letting Hermione lead the way, "If we can destroy this place, all the better for our rebellion against that tyrant."

The Director led them to a strangely bare wall in the side of the Archive, and searched around for a moment. Her hand caught a hidden latch, revealing a hidden doorway that led into darkness.


	30. C29: Overlooked

**Much thanks to those who've reviewed! Please enjoy the next one! ~F P.S. In reviewing what I had written for the previous chapter, I can see now how I did not give enough clues to what actually happened. Diabolis deduced the location and events from Veneficus' writings, which I had intended to be vague enough that very few would have had any hope of actually understanding them without doing as much work as Diabolis had to catalogue all of the Emperor's movements, case and point Hermione does not mention the information as she did not understand it... apparently that detail slipped through my final edits uncorrected... Perhaps in the future I will revise the entire trilogy like I am doing with the ANP series, and repost it as one continuous story, adding in more detail and fixing some things that were exceptionally unclear... cough cough troll first year cough cough… ~F**

 **Chapter Twenty Nine**

 **Overlooked**

Diábolis stared furiously at the readout as his ship soared through the tube of light that made up Hyperspace. Veneficus had found the long awaited secret of immortality, and was going to the one location that would allow him to accomplish such a ritual.

Ruusan, the location of the final major conflict between Sith and Jedi in the last quarter millennia. Diábolis was well aware of the font of Force energy that existed there, but he had never assumed that Veneficus would find such a dire use for the massively charged nexus.

But it made sense, when he added together all the pieces that Veneficus had collected for this ritual. Through the scepter of Ragnos, an artifact able to drain and expel the energy of any Force aura, along with such a highly powerful location, the limits of possibility were frayed at the ends. Diábolis figured that the scepter had been lost when the Star Forge had been destroyed, but clearly Veneficus had removed it after the war, allowing the station's productivity to lessen over time, and eventually abate.

Still, what the man was planning was madness. No biological form would be able to handle the sheer amount of raw Force energy that the so called Valley of the Jedi contained. Many weaker fools that even were forced to the planet went mad from the swirling residue of the hundreds of dead Sith and Jedi that had been trapped there for all time.

But Diábolis knew enough about the terrible power of the Wild Force that Veneficus commanded to know that he had something more up his sleeve. The red elixir that regenerated Veneficus' form had to be a key component to allowing the man to survive such a massive amount of the Force pouring into him, crystallizing his form in an ever-living state of youth even as the energies tried to rip him apart.

The end result could be tantamount to a literal Force-created god rising from the planet, to devour all life in the Galaxy, or even worse. Odd though it was, Diábolis had to stop this madness just so that there'd be a galaxy to conquer when it was all over.

The Force sword rested at his side, humming with the anger and hatred that Diábolis had for his master. How he longed to put this blade into the chest of Veneficus, watch the madman's eyes cloud over and finally expire.

He just hoped he wasn't too late. "We're exiting Hyperspace shortly, my Lord," the pilot said. Diábolis had left his entire fleet over Coruscant, knowing that they would only slow him down, and cause problems if any desired to back their Emperor over his apprentice for the struggle of ruler of the Galaxy. Even this pilot knew little of what was going to transpire, and Diábolis intended to kill him as soon as they landed.

The star lines slowed and returned to tiny pinpricks in the vast blackness of space as they emerged from their jump, and the looming presence of Ruusan called out to Diábolis like a beacon. Veneficus was there, there was no doubt of that.

In fact, all Diábolis could sense was the thrumming pulse of the Force itself as the shuttle entered the atmosphere of Ruusan and headed for the coordinates of the infamous Force Nexus. Something massive was in the process of happening, and the Force itself was being harmed by the manifestation. Dare he to even admit it, but had Veneficus stumbled upon something downright evil in his pursuit of power?

The moment the shuttle landed he was already approaching the pilot. The fool had no chance to struggle as his neck was effortless broken before he could even turn to address the Sith Lord, his body casually cast aside for when Diábolis returned.

He exited the shuttle after that, leaving it running and waiting for escape if such a thing was needed, and headed toward the strange cave-like network that housed the hidden Nexus at the center of the Valley of the Jedi. The fact that this location was called that, when in reality it was the genesis of the Sith Rule of Two was appalling to Diábolis, and he planned to change the name in due time… granted, if everything went according to plan, it would be better served as the tomb of Darth Veneficus…

With only the light of his twinblade to guide him, Diábolis started into the gloom, rage seething in his heart as he allowed the Dark Side to lead him to his master, following the trail left by the tattered bond between master and apprentice that still existed between the pair of them.

The cavern was distinct, the walls and ceiling having been worn away by time and smoothed out by the scouring winds of the once lush planet. The catastrophic devastation of the ancient Thought Bomb had destroyed the ecosystem of Ruusan, transforming it into a lifeless tomb. The perfect world for the final site of his master…

"Or so you would think?" answered the haunting voice of Veneficus, and Diábolis turned at a small opening in the tunnel to see the Sith Master there, robes impeccable despite the clear age in the man's face.

"You have come at last… but to what end I wonder, my apprentice…" the old man wheezed.

"I will end you, my old master, and stop whatever greater madness you wish to inflict upon the Empire, and the rest of the Galaxy!" Diábolis shouted, readying himself to charge his master, and begin the battle that would decide all their fates.

"Not so fast, young fool, think about the matter first and foremost," the Emperor hissed, and before Diábolis could react, the old man's wand was in hand, and a muttered incantation drowned the room in smoke and some sort of noxious gas.

The cackling laugher of the Emperor trailed away, and Diábolis knew that the spell had affected his mind, throwing him into some manner of state where he could not locate the Force aura of his master.

Keeping his weapon close, he ventured forward, trying to clear his head of the smoke that seemed to make his vision hazy with every breath.

A sound sent him whirling, the high-pitched cry of a child, and off in a side tunnel Diábolis lunged, drawn to the sound with the force of memory. He knew that voice. Rounding a corner, Diábolis was stunned as he stepped into a very family jungle scene.

It was night, the twin moons of Devaron shining overhead, and a pair of young Devaronians were sprinting through the undergrowth, even as a larger figure chased after them. Diábolis felt his very skin crawl as one of the pair of children fell, tripping over a branch.

"Bathrekh, run!" the female called, and the other, a young boy only a little past his eighth year, froze in terror.

Diábolis knew the fear that had flooded the child's heart as he saw his sister fall. He remembered closely the anger and hatred that had surged through him when the man who had stolen them from their parents over a debt arrived, and savagely started to beat his sister.

The young Bathrekh hadn't known the potential within him, and at that moment it unleashed itself in a tidal wave. The Dark Side of the Force, unrefined and raw, tore through the undergrowth, knocking back the vile old Devaronian that had enslaved him and his sister, and the future Sith Lord leapt upon the old being. That had been his first kill, Diábolis still remembered the taste of the old Devaronian's blood on his tongue as he tore the throat out with his teeth.

From the shadows of the jungle, another figure emerged. Diábolis lifted his weapon, but it was a much younger version of Darth Veneficus, just another figment of memory. What the Sith Apprentice was not prepared for was the illusion to turn to him, "You held such promise, even when so young. The sheer surprise of the act you committed was what drew me to you. The raw hatred and rage coursing through you was endearing, and enticing… You and I were exactly alike…"

"I'm nothing like you!" Diábolis shouted; although in all honesty he did not believe himself.

"You believe that now… but you will learn otherwise in due time…" the illusion of the Emperor intoned, backing away and fading from view.

Diábolis knew what happened next in the vision, and closed his eyes to block out the sounds of his sister dying in his arms from the wild animals that had come after them, pursuing the scent of the blood that he himself had spilt. Bathrekh Masek had only been eight years old, and had been abandoned in the jungle. It had taken another two weeks of living alone in the wilds before Veneficus had found him, and took him away to learn the life of a Sith Lord.

The vision ended, but the mist remained. Diábolis had an idea where this madness was going, but he refused to allow it to affect him, and pushed on into the next chamber. He would face these supposed demons of his past, and use their power to cast aside the future that Veneficus wanted for him.

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Zhar was pleased to discover that, upon the deaths of the entire Dromund Kaas council, every minor issue that plagued the world seemed to magically end. Now that he had full autonomy and control over the capital of the Sith Empire, Zhar was able to devote all his time and attention to research and the pursuit of knowledge that could liberate them from the oppressive rule of the Sith.

Both Euka and Jol were able to help him with these tasks, as the rest of the planet returned to its normal day-to-day activities, with little to no input from the leaders themselves. Zhar now understood why Feyd had had so much time to prepare for his attempted coup against the Emperor. Dromund Kaas, so long under the direct control of the Emperor, was well aware of what was required of it and operated as an efficient unit in the grand design of the Empire.

"Here's another reference to the Sith directives." Euka said, bringing a scroll from some deep section of the extensive archive to the central table of the section of the archive that the Supreme Prophet had blocked off from others. This was necessary to prevent just anyone from potentially seeing what they were up to and put together too much, while still maintaining the public access to the archive.

"Just as I expected," Zhar said after scanning the text for a moment, "ultimate power through immortality… conquering the Galaxy is just a side note to give themselves the time to accomplish the main goal."

"Lording their power over all races and beings, like tyrants…" Jol chimed in, moving a stack of tomes from the central table to be returned to their places inconspicuously.

"Yes…" Zhar said, thinking over the matter. In all honesty, their goal was the same, to live and progress in the knowledge of the Dark Side, but the ambition of the Sith knew no bounds. They wanted everything and anything that lived to bow to their will and power. If only there had been another option, an order that sought merely to grow in the power of the Dark Side without reaching out to demand control over all else.

There was a tremor in the Force at that moment, and Zhar traced it back to the planet Ruusan in an instant. The utter blackness told him that the Emperor himself was there, but as for why the madman was on that far flung planet and not Coruscant, he did not know.

"He's on the move," Euka commented, also able to sense the presence of the Emperor from across the stars.

"But for what end?" Zhar asked, puzzled. Another pulse and Zhar widened his eyes, "Diábolis is there, and I can sense the tension between Master and Apprentice…"

"The challenge of the Sith at long last…" Euka said. Jol, still too new to the strength of the Force that both Zhar and Euka expressed could not sense the same things, and was silent as the pair commented on what they felt rippling through the cosmos.

"We cannot allow either of them to rule over us any longer…" Zhar said. "Whoever kills the other, it will mean nothing but pain and devastation for the rest of the Galaxy."

Zhar paused, dare he even suggest it… "Interesting…" he said, "the answer has glared at us openly from the beginning…"

"What answer?" Jol asked, and Zhar smirked.

"Before the rise of Veneficus and the Neo-Sith Empire, Darth Millennial was almost thrust from the Order of the Sith for heresy, forming a cult called the Prophets of the Dark Side…"

"But that was a front to blind Darth Cognus while the mutant searched for Veneficus…" Euka added, her own mind expanding to understand where Zhar was going.

"We can take up the reins of that order, long abandoned and merged into the hierarchy of the Sith Empire, reforge it back to what it was, a religious view of the Dark Side, and divide ourselves from the madness of the Sith. Make certain that an order of the Dark Side exists outside their power squabbles and conflict with the Jedi."

"We need not be slaves of them, and yet not abandon the power that the Dark Side brings us either." Jol surmised, smirking, "It's genius…"

"But how to convince such a massive population of the need…" Zhar wondered aloud, when almost as a blessing of the Force, his comlink chimed. Zhar answered, reading the automated message from Coruscant.

"The Imperial Palace on Coruscant is under siege from the rebels, and Jedi…" he said.

"The perfect opportunity…" Euka said, seizing the moment, "We send all the military assets we can to aid them, and in the meantime enact our plan to sway the rest of the Force sensitive populace to a more pragmatic view of the Force, and point to the devastation of the Empire as a failing of the Sith and their Code…"

"And in time, we may create a new Order, and guide the future to a more utopia society, where the vileness of the Sith are eliminated, alongside the constricting nature of the Jedi…" Zhar added.

"Here is where it starts, with three Prophets of the Dark Side," Euka said, motioning to the three of them.

"As though it was destined to be thus…" Jol said, stepping forward and forming a small circle with the other two.

The Force seemed to ripple through the three of them, and Zhar knew that this was to be. The Prophet of the Dark Side would serve the Sith no longer. "Then we have work to do…" he said, and his two High Prophets of the new order nodded. "Those fully loyal to the Sith Emperor must be tricked into leaving the city, while all those who seek for liberation and have the touch of the Force will be drawn here…"

Abandoning the texts and scrolls on the table, as they had no more need to learn the secrets of the Sith's design, Zhar went to the nearest window and looked out over the vastness of Kaas City. "You'll both need to search far and wide, following the intuition of the Dark Side to find those pupils on all Imperial worlds that will willingly abandon their previous convictions."

"It will be as you say, Supreme Prophet," Jol said, his eagerness a useful boon. Euka was more subdued, but nodded her acceptance of Zhar's will nonetheless.

"While the Sith squabble among themselves, we will prepare a brighter future for those who follow in the path of the Dark Side, and gather all knowledge and power to this place, gazing deep into the future to prevent another atrocity like Veneficus from rising to full and complete power." Zhar said, the pure intelligence flowing into him from the Force itself.

All was becoming clear. The Force despised the Wild aspect of its nature, and the abomination that was the Mage-born, up to and including Veneficus, a monster among monsters. If they must scour the galaxy to eliminate every scrap of that wanton anomaly in the Force, just to prevent another tyrant like Veneficus, then it would be the secret mission of the Prophets.

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Filius couldn't tell why or how, but he just knew that something was wrong.

They had had continual updates from their forces heading to Coruscant for a time, but they had abruptly stopped just before they were due to arrive at their destination. While this was typical of a mission underway, there tended to be at least some updates of the battle's progress, but this time there was nothing.

Filius was worried, and when the communication system crackled to life he sprinted across the command center to see. "This is Director Granger to all Rebellion forces. Converge on Coruscant, the planet is in riot, and we have secured the Jedi Temple. Repeat, this is Director Granger to all Rebellion forces…"

Excited muttering sprang up through the command forces, including worry whether this message was a trap or not, but Filius could tell that it was genuine. There were code gestures that Hermione had grilled into the senior command staff that she was repeating alongside her message, certain subtle things that would not be repeatable if she was being control or otherwise not in her right mind.

"I want every single member of this rebellion on high alert," Filius said, his small voice still commanding great respect. All turned to face him and fell silent as he spoke, and despite his height, Filius felt ten feet tall as he gave the most important orders of the war.

"Assemble all our reserves; I want every ship that is space-worthy in the air in two hours. We are taking back the Republic's capital!" Filius said, to a chorus of cheering.

Officers sprinted from the room to spread the word like wildfire, and engineers took to the comm. Channels, signaling to every rebel unit throughout the galaxy the command. If Hermione was correct that they had a window of opportunity to take the Galactic Core, then they would muster such a force to be noteworthy of how great the rebellion had surged.

Even those rebels that had only done what they could on their homeworlds, and not officially joined the mustering at either Hoth or Bakura would take note of this, and Filius had a massive expectation of a show of force that would rival even the assemblies of the Neo-Sith war. He might be overreaching, but sustaining high moral at the moment was far more important.

In the midst of the scramble, Filius opened a new channel back to Sanctuary, directly into Severus' potion's lab. "Severus…" he said and the other man appeared.

"I've heard," the Potions Master replied, "the message was transmitted here as well. We're in the process of mustering everything we have and going to aid them in the Core."

"As are we…" Filius replied, "I get the feeling that we will need to carry the Seer's stone to Coruscant, and deliver it to that focal point of Force energy…"

Severus was silent for a moment, "I've had that feeling as well…' he said.

"Strange, and somewhat ominous…" Filius said.

"It is dangerous to rely too much on such an artifact, but at the same time I get the feeling we have no choice but to use it in order to counter the foresight of the Emperor." Severus admitted, "I will be carrying it into battle."

"I'll see you on Coruscant, then…" Filius said, and the two former Hogwarts Professors nodded before ending the communication. It was always an awkward thing, interrupting Severus during his work, but Filius knew that the man needed to have contact with other beings to not become a complete shut in.

Still, he knew that the message had been spread, and the Seer's Stone was on its way to Coruscant. With that knowledge, Filius could prepare himself for the likelihood of a massive battle that was about to explode through the core of the Galaxy.

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Diábolis snarled in anger after the fourth vision of his youth flashed past him. What he strongly suspected to be an attempt to distract and delay him from confronting the Emperor only served to increase his anger at the man, and push him on to breaking the enchantment that held him here.

He had already witnessed once again the horrors of his initial training under Veneficus. The man had been cruel, the scenarios ranging from gladiatorial arenas on the Outer Rim of the galaxy, all the way to dropping Diábolis with nothing but his saber on some remote worlds with orders to survive for months at a time.

Each and every event had already been seared into the soul of Diábolis, every injustice a source of power in the Dark Side to conquer and destroy all those who might try to threaten his power.

"Enough of this!" he bellowed, throwing the Force out around him, trying to pry away the next scene, of himself as a teenager suffering under the lightning of his master after the first act of the Neo-Sith War. The Emperor had not been pleased with Diábolis' lack of ability to outfight kill the Jedi he had faced.

But even as the vision tried to envelope him into its folds, Diábolis drew the ancient Sith blade from his waist. The blade hummed with suppressed power in the Force, and Diábolis swung it right at the illusion of Veneficus.

The facsimile of his Master turned and dodged the swinging blade, but a tear appeared in the fabric of this dream reality. There was a blinding flash of light, and Diábolis found himself back in the same juncture where he had first encountered Veneficus.

"As I thought…" he said, getting back to his feet and dusting himself off. Curiously, despite the entire event having been some mental struggle in his mind, the Sith sword was now in his hand and drawn rather than on his belt.

Taking the hint that this weapon was his only defense against the wanton sorcery of the Wild Force, Diábolis followed the trails of Force energy to the massive font of power that lay in the center of the Valley.

The winding tunnels were void of any hindrances, and that alone worried Diábolis. Could the delay he had already faced been sufficient?

Emerging to the massive chamber where the remnants of the thought bomb lay, the Devaronian widened his eyes. The swirling golden energies of the Force from the monument that covered the inescapable prison of Force energy were trained, radiating green and red. Bursts of lightning sparked from the surface of the dome and arced widely through the air.

And on the far side of the central circle, surrounded by glowing runes and stretching forth the Scepter of Ragnos, was Veneficus.

"I must admit, you escaped my spell far sooner than I had anticipated, my apprentice," the Sith Lord congratulated, his voice worn and strained. Diábolis wondered how much of the restorative elixir the man had consumed in preparation for what he was about to do.

"Honestly though," Veneficus continued, "I had hoped that at least one would witness my final triumph over all that stood in my way. Fitting that fate and the Force decided that it would be you. The one and only being in all the Galaxy set to be my equal, or at least former equal…"

"I doubt that you ever truly desired an equal…" Diábolis shot back, seething slightly as he circled the dome slowly. He moved slowly and kept the Sith sword out of sight. He had only a small window to use the surprise of the object, and if wasted it would spell his doom.

Veneficus laughed, "True," he said, "I had little desire for the Rule of Two to continue past my time. Millennial was insufferable in his time, and I had already come so close and broken so many barriers that prevented the Sith from truly ruling the Galaxy. Why would I entrust all that I had done to another when victory was within my grasp alone. I am the most cunning, the strongest, and the only one perfectly set to shape the very fabric of the universe at my will…"

Gesturing with spread arms at the entirety of the ritual, even as more runes surrounding the entire chamber flared to life, Veneficus chuckled again, "The power of the Wild Force is inescapable, unending, and liberating over even what the lesser beings of the Force know or can do."

Diábolis drew closer, and blinked as he started to see the near-invisible figures on either side of Venficus. Four shades, all empowering the Sith Emperor with their strength and wisdom, whispering in his ear and giving him all the edge he normally needed over any foe.

That connection was going to end this day, and Diábolis clutched the hilt of the cool metal blade tighter. "I was foolish, I admit," Diábolis said, admitting something of the pair of them more than just he alone, "to underestimate the sheer power of the Wild Force, and you're supreme wielding of it…"

"Yes… it is a curious and secretive thing…" Veneficus agreed, waving the small stick in his other hand as he directed the energies of the Valley to start drawing into himself. Through his connection with the Force sword, Diábolis could see the colored energy bending and wafting through the air as if on wire, drawing nearer to Veneficus. The ritual itself was about to begin officially, and he had to wait until the Emperor was thoroughly distracted and could not interfere with Diábolis' attack. But he had to get closer yet.

"But I do not understand then, why you chose me over Drakis Malfay as your apprentice?" Diábolis said, thinking swiftly of something to delay the Emperor just a touch more.

"It was simple…" Veneficus replied, sheathing the wand and reaching forward to caress the Force energy with his bare fingers. "The man was a fool, and his power in the Force was weak compared to you, my apprentice… Additionally, I was able to mould you from the earliest years, form you after my own image, as a true Sith. Draco was nothing more than a child playing with the tools of a far greater being. He had too much of his father in him, and no amount of training would eliminate that from him…"

The energy of the Force flashed and changed color, and Veneficus fell silent. Diábolis had a feeling that something had changed, even as the Emperor started to laugh, holding his arms wide as the runic symbols started to rotate, lifting off the ground and expanding to cover the entire golden orb of power.

"It is time…" Veneficus stated, levitating off the ground himself and floating over to drift above the orb, the scepter held high over his head, "be silent now my apprentice, and witness my ascension as a God over the entire Galaxy!"

A flare of golden energy shot upward from the orb, bathing Veneficus and the scepter in its power, and through the gift that the Force sword gave to him, Diábolis could see the four spirits drifting about the outside of the runic circle, their presence stabilizing the ritual and aiding the Emperor in his design.

For a short time, Diábolis was transfixed by the vision before him. Despite the clear threat that it poised to him specifically, it was glorious to realize that one of the Sith Order was indeed accomplishing to goals that they had begun so long ago on Tython. Veneficus' flesh was boiling and splintered from the infusion of Force power, and almost casually he swept a hand upward, and from the base of the dome a flowing red liquid appeared.

Diábolis looked closer and saw a small cauldron from where the rejuvenating elixir was flowing. Hovering over it, and bleeding the liquid into the container was a stone, pulsing like a living heart.

That had to be the source of Veneficus' youth and longevity. Realization came swiftly to the Devaronian. Every piece of the puzzle was here together, and he just needed to strike, and cause a devastating blow to his master's plans in one fel swoop.

The sword hummed in his hand, the power of the Dark Side strengthening his resolve to strike. With Veneficus now distracted maintaining his ritual, there was nothing to prevent Diábolis from doing so.

"No!" Venficus shouted, even as Diábolis darted forward, the weapon gleaming with red and black energy in his hand. The nearest shade turned in surprise and horror as Diábolis slashed at it. The spirit was that of Darth Bane, and looked overjoyed at the separation as the Force sword cleaved the connection between the former Sith Lord and the Emperor.

Veneficus howled in agony as Darth Bane vanished instantly, and Diábolis whirled, sprinting for the next spirit, slashing the sword deftly through the connection that bound Naga Sadow to the current Emperor, releasing the Dark Specter to return to his tomb.

The ritual started to destabilize, the reduction in Force power from Veneficus allowing for blasts of power to ricochet across the chamber. "You fool. You will destroy everything I have worked for and us together with it!"

Diábolis didn't respond, not even the cry out when the Emperor caught him with a blast of lightning. The third spirit actually met him as he was approaching it, holding ghostly arms out as though welcoming the blade into it. Ludo Kreesh vanished into the void just as the ritual fully destabilized.

The Wild Force failed, and Veneficus was thrown with the massive explosion of Force energy, which caused rubble to plummet from the vaulted ceiling of the chamber. Diábolis dodged the worst of the fallout, the Force sword firmly in hand as he slowly made his way toward the fallen Emperor, bloodied and crawling along the floor toward the cauldron of healing liquid.

"It ends here my old master…" Diábolis said, raising the sword high.

"Never!" Veneficus howled back, rolling to the side and thrusting both hands like claws at Diábolis. The lightning caught the metal sword hard and almost succeeded in ripping it from Diábolis' hand. By the time he had recovered, Veneficus had already drunken deeply from the cauldron, and his wounds were closing slowly as he rose to his feet.

"So…" the man hissed, facing Diábolis, "you wish so badly to overthrow me, that you are even willing to embrace a suicidal idea that could threaten the entire propagation of the Sith Order!"

Throwing out a hand, the Emperor summoned the Scepter of Ragnos to him. Diábolis thought that Veneficus might try to wield the powerful item against him, but he was surprised when Veneficus drew from the bottom of the staff another Force sword, its blade radiating crackling red lightning, and filled to the brim with the power of the Dark Side.

"I will not allow you to threaten anything more." Veneficus raged, "I reject you as my apprentice. You are Sith no longer, unless you think you can kill me here and now!"

"I would have it no other way…" Diábolis said calmly, letting the Dark Side wash over him with a slow burning flame, offsetting the raging inferno that the Emperor represented.

The man vanished in a blur of motion, and Diábolis, expecting the rush of an attack, turned and slammed his blade in a defensive block. The ring of metal on metal shook through the cavern, and the duel of master and apprentice began.

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Ist wasn't sure of they ought to be abandoning the battle raging above to investigate this hidden vault in the Jedi Temple, but Director Granger was adamant that they needed to see this through, and who was she to argue.

The hidden lift took them down at a frightening pace to the hidden chamber, which was an unlit corridor extending an unknown distance into the mountain far below the Temple.

"According to what information I found," Director Granger said as she started down the corridor, the light of her data pad being the only thing illuminating the way, "While the Emperor modified and added to this chamber, it existed long before even the construction of the first Jedi Temple…"

Ist was not sure as to why that information made her uneasy, but she still felt the smallest shiver of apprehension as they found another door. It took only a few moments for the Director to hack open the door from her portal console, and it slid into the floor and revealed the massive empty chamber beyond.

Ist could tell that the chamber was massive, despite the lack of any illumination outside of the catwalk that led to the center of the room. There was a massive platform there, and as they drew nearer Ist could see that it was made up of natural rock formations from the mountain below. Hieroglyphics and other ritualistic carvings were etched into the surface of the mound, intermixed with some carefully placed artifacts of Sith origin.

But that was not all that was on display. As they reached the end of the catwalk, Ist paused, staring in muted horror at the collection of lightsabers and Mage-born wands that were piled around a central alter like trophies or ornaments to a warlord.

"It can't be…" one of the other Jedi breathed, also recognizing some of the saber-hilts that were piled there.

"Oh, it most certainly is, my Jedi friend…" cackled a hideous voice.

They all looked up to the top of the altar, where a vision of the Emperor crackled into view. It was clearly some sort of holographic recording or long range communication, but that didn't stop them all from activating their lightsabers just in case the madman had some means of attacking them.

"Veneficus…" Director Granger breathed…

"And my dear Hermione… How long I had waited for you to come back to me at last…" the Emperor said, chuckling sickeningly to himself. "Unfortunate that I am not there to greet you in person, but as you could probably guess, I had more important things to take care of than your quaint little rebellion against my Empire…"

The image shimmered, and from the lack of facial reaction, Ist relaxed. It was a recording, albeit eerily accurate in its knowledge of their presence and motive.

"Although, it would have been most unkind of me to prepare something for you discovering this place: the nexus of all the Jedi's failure… little did they ever realize that the Dark Side existed so close to their precious home, underlying everything they did with a layer of power for their enemies to exploit…" Veneficus said, gesturing at the pillar of rock upon which his alter was built, "Still… because I know you'd appreciate it so much, I did prepare a gift for you and your little friends in my absence…"

The image snapped his fingers, and across the entire chamber lights flooded down from above, illuminating the walls and floor some distance below. Ist widened her eyes as she saw the long stretches of capsules and medical equipment for suspended animation. The entire chamber was filled with sleeping figures, just barely kept clinging to life by the technology of their age.

"Awaken my soldiers, and protect my palace!" Veneficus' image intoned, and the verbal command activated the green light code to begin the process of reanimating the countless soldiers that slumbered in the massive chamber.

"We have to get out of here!" Ist said, taking Director Granger by the shoulder and pulling her back. If they were caught here they would be cut off and quickly eliminated by the horde of waking warriors. Each one was connected deeply to the Force and the Dark Side Ist could sense.

They ran, and the laughter of the Emperor carried along with them as they fled the chamber and the corridor beyond. They made it to the lift before Ist spotted the first warrior appear at the far end of the corridor, crimson lightsaber in hand, and a murderous glare in the being's eyes.

"There has to be other means for them to escape," Hermione guessed, even as they crowded into the lift and sent it hurtling upward and away from the madness that was rushing to follow them.

"We'd always wondered how many of his puppet soldiers and guards he had waiting, and now I suppose we know the truth." One of the others said.

"Those weren't his normal royal guards…" Ist replied. She had sensed the great difference between those monsters in the chamber below and those that they'd fought to get in the Temple. The ones on the surface were sane, and acted like men, unlike the wild and ravenous thoughts of the ones they had escaped for the time being.

"The rejects of his personal guard," Hermione guessed, "too dangerous to allow into his circle, but still useful enough to not destroy…"

"Each one powerful Force users as well as a Mage-born clones…" Ist added, glancing between the Director and the other Jedi among them. There was no need for her to state that this had been the perfect trap set for them, and just as the Emperor had known who would find it they had fallen for the ruse without even thinking about it.

"We need to lock down the temple, and prevent those monsters from escaping out to the rest of Coruscant…" Ist said.

"There's no possible way we can defeat those thousands of monsters…" one of the Jedi said.

"No," Ist agreed, "but we can hold them off until reinforcements arrive…"


	31. C30: Emperor's Wrath

**Many thanks to those who are keeping up the steady stream of reviews, they are much appreciated! There is much that is about to happen, and I will not waste words trying to elaborate and simply permit the chapter to speak for itself. please enjoy! ~F**

 **Chapter Thirty**

 **Emperor's Wrath**

Veneficus wasted no time in launching into a powerful barrage of attacks. It had been a long time since he used a single blade, let alone one made of metal, but he adjusted in a flash. The heavier weapon arced cleanely through a pattern of attacks that would have washed over and overwhelmed a lesser opponent, but Diábolis was trained by Veneficus himself. The Sith Lord expected no less than perfection as his former apprentice and now rival deflected and parried, seeking an opening to turn the tables.

But this was no mere contest of Master and Apprentice vying for the mantle and mastery of the Sith Order, at least not any longer. Veneficus would destroy the impotent fool for foiling his plans. There would be no mercy from him. The Dark Side flared as a whirlwind around the pair of powerful Force users, and Veneficus recognized that Diábolis wielded a blade similar to his own, etched with Sith runes and powered by the Dark Side around them.

Closing his eyes momentarily mid strike, Veneficus acknowledged that his former servant had surprised him, and brought the one kind of weapon that made them equals in this fight. Still, Veneficus was superior in all aspects of being a Sith, and he would prove to the Devaronian once and for all that none could stand against the Eternal Emperor.

Slashing upward, Veneficus caught Diábolis' blade in a surprise move, and opened the other's torso to attack. Kicking heavily with his armored boot, Veneficus knocked his foe away, clearing space for him to take a hand from the metal sword. Cold bolts of lightning crackled at his command, arcing across the chamber and impacting the sword of his former apprentice.

Diábolis clung for all he was worth, even as the electric arcs shot into his hands and arms, conducted easily through his weapon. Diábolis slammed his blade down and to the side, redirecting the bolts of lightning from Veneficus harmlessly into the ground, and leapt at his former master once more.

The force backing his swing sent Veneficus back a step, and he sensed that this fight could go on for a terribly long time, if not for some important factors. The Dark Side was eating away at him, every second making the Sith Emperor weaker, and Diábolis knew of his dependence on the Elixir of Life. He would do anything and everything in his power to prevent Veneficus from getting even another sip of the life-restoring cordial.

At the same time, the younger combatant had less in reserve for such a drawn battle, and would eventually tire. It was a battle of time, to see who gave out first, and that was not something that Veneficus wished to waste his energy in finding out.

He was going to be forced to use some of his more destructive, and dangerous, skills in the Force that he had horded over the years, in order to end this conflict as swiftly as possible. The gleam of raw malice in his eyes must have registered in Diábolis' mind, as the Devaronian launched into a heavily acrobatic assault then, likely trying to forestall whatever he thought Veneficus had in store for the pair of them.

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Ist ran with Director Granger and the other Jedi, even as they heard the howls and vicious sounds of the horde of psychotic creatures behind them. There had indeed been multiple exits from that underground chamber, all leading into the Temple proper, and now the legion of warriors were converging, eliminating anyone and everything in their path as they tried to cleanse the building of intruders.

Two of their number had already fallen, saving them from ambushes and standing to fight alone against the unending numbers that pursued them. The clones, little more than beasts in mind, had fought savagely, ignoring any pain or injury that they were given. Some even threw spells at them, indicating that they were mage-born as well as Dark Adept clones, making them even more dangerous as violently green spells burst around them, slaying one more Jedi without even a mark upon him.

"We need to get back to the Emperor's potion lab!" the director shouted, turning a corner sharply that would lead them back toward the archive, dodging to the left as another of the monstrous warriors smashed through a window, saber in hand and gurgling madly as it sought an opponent. Ist didn't hesitate as she ran past, slashing with both hands on her weapon, and cutting the creature in half through the midsection.

There was no time for elegance in this fight; they needed speed and efficient kills to prevent them from being followed too closely. The Archive; however, turned out to be a trap.

Scores of the creatures were tearing through the place, seeking out anything that moved and killing it ghoulishly. "Quickly, we can seal them out if we get inside," Granger ordered, turning and running along the side of the upper floor, although it was clear her destination was two floors below them.

The sudden movement attracted the attention of the lot, and howling and gnashing their teeth they started to flood up to them, using the Force to leap from the ground floor up to them.

Ist and the remaining Jedi were hard put to keep them away as well as continually moving forward. The fortunate part of this was that the creatures lacked any sort of armor or defenses, and could be thrown about with the Force if needed. There were simple too many.

Another pair of Jedi were taken by surprise, crimson sabers erupting from the floor and dropping the section they stood on into a pit of blackness, where they screamed out as they fought, before being silenced quickly as the horde overwhelmed them.

"We're out of time!" Ist shouted, running at the Director, who was blasting another of the creatures with her wand. Tackling the leader of the Rebellion, the Bothan sent them both over the edge, and in a flash removed a fiberwire grappling hook, throwing it with the Force to aid her as they fell.

It attached to the railing they had just smashed through, going taught and jerking them backward out of their trajectory. They were thrown backward, and landed heavily on the same floor as their intended destination.

The final two Jedi Knights that had followed Ist into the temple leapt down beside them, and flanked them as Ist cleared the way for Hermione to get the door open for them. Only once they were safely inside, despite sporting many light wounds, while the ground outside being littered with corpses of their attackers, the four beings were able to breathe easier. Director Granger waved her wand sharply over the door, layering it in Wild Force abilities to shield the door itself from the blades of the man-like creatures outside.

"That should hold them for a time," the Director said, straightening and putting her wand back in the secret holster in her sleeve.

"But now what?" Ist asked, thinking of the countless beings outside that could be being butchered by the hidden army that the Emperor had secreted inside the Jedi Temple itself.

The Director thought hard, "It'll take too long for reinforcements to arrive, and who knows what orders that mob outside is programmed with…" she said, more to herself than the three remaining Jedi, pacing through the room and occasionally looking at the various objects throughout.

As though to answer her own question, she pulled up a screen on the wall, and typed out a string of commands. The picture changed to viewing the outside of the temple, where the insane creatures were starting to swarm out of the temple, cutting down anything and anyone they encountered.

"What can we do?" one of the other Jedi asked, and Ist saw Director Granger sigh to herself.

"There is one thing." She said, hitting another set of commands, and opening a direct communication channel. "Professor Snape," She said, the seriousness in her voice sending a small chill down Ist's spine, "We have need of your Mage-born toxin."

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Diábolis felt his strength starting to slip.

Despite all his preparations, he had known that this battle would be the greatest challenge that he ever undertook. The personal strength of the Emperor was vast, and to any lesser opponent would seem overwhelmingly powerful.

It was as though Diábolis alone was capable of seeing Veneficus as the man that he was, let alone actually fighting him on a scale that pushed the Sith Master to his limit.

The weighted blade in his hand thrummed with power; however the style of fighting was something that he had not used for a long time, favoring the twinblade far more than the standard weapon.

Still, he threw every ounce of his strength into the battle, twisting out of the way of the stabbing blade of his former master, before countering attacking with a slash to the old man's head. He had to find a way to turn the tide once more. Ideally, he could sever the final Force ghost attached to the man, but the specter had figured out Diábolis' plan, and was keeping his distance from the combatants.

Which left only one great weak point to Veneficus, and Diábolis knew that if he managed to strike that target, he would literally shatter any hopes that the Emperor had for surviving to rule the Galaxy forever.

Catching the next strike from Veneficus with his own blade, Diábolis twisted his weapon, entangling the cross guards of their swords and pulling the older human toward him. Their weapons locked together, the crafty old Sith tried to blast Diábolis with lightning, but the Devaronian head butted Veneficus in the face, his horned head colliding heavily.

There was a crunching noise as the Sith Lord's nose broke under the sudden attack, and heaving his sword arm up, Diábolis exposed his former Master's chest. But rather than attacking, he groped blindly at the robes that the Emperor wore; using the Force to seek for the item he needed to achieve total victory over Veneficus.

The Emperor howled in rage, and a massive burst of Force energy threw Diábolis away, shattering his shield that typically protected him from such telekinetic attacks. Nevertheless, he held up his prize for Veneficus to see through the blood gushing from the human's face.

The blood red stone, the source of the Emperor's precious life-sustaining liquid, felt oddly warm in Diábolis' hand. He knew he could never use such an object, and through the Force he could tell that the object could not be destroyed by conventional means.

"No!" the Emperor screamed, as Diábolis did the only thing that came to mind, and crammed the stone into his own mouth. The warm object passed quite easily down his throat, and seemed to vanish completely rather than reach his stomach.

A flash of light caused him to look up, and he completely forgot about what had just occurred. Veneficus had both hands cupped close together, and between them Diábolis saw raw Force energy collecting. It had to be one of the ancient, arcane arts of the Dark Side, and seemed that the old Sorcerer was turning the Force itself into a weapon.

Diábolis did not want to know what might happen if the rapidly growing orb of Force power struck him, and dashed to the side, moving as quickly as he could to avoid the pulsating orb of power as Veneficus hurled it at him.

Something within him seemed to push Diábolis to greater heights of strength and speed, and still he narrowly avoided the orb as it rushed through the air with the crackle of charged energy. It struck the weather-worn statue of a Jedi, and obliterated it utterly. Something about that ability made Diábolis' skin crawl, and he knew that he could not allow Veneficus to use it again.

He turned, and to his intense shock and horror the Emperor had teleported toward him, and Diábolis hissed as the cold metal blade of Veneficus pierced him, driving deeply into his torso. The hideous face of the Sith Master glowered down at him, contorted with rage and sparked with Dark Side energy.

And yet, despite the quite clear fatal location of the blade in his chest, Diábolis did not feel his life leaving him. It certain pained him, and that pain was changing into anger, rage, and therefore power. Not knowing what exactly was preventing him from the release of death, Diábolis took advantage of the boon, and lashed out with his own blade, striking at the Emperor's hand as the man pulled back to use the Force on him at such a close range. Following up the attack, the Devaronian pulled out his last trump card. A vial of dark liquid that easily splashed into the face of the Emperor, fuming and burning the flesh of the man as it hit him like acid.

The Emperor howled in surprise and agony, even as his left hand separated completely from his body, and his face started to melt like wax. The man fell back, releasing the handle of the sword in Diábolis' chest, and the Devaronian rose to his feet.

"How is this possible?" Diábolis demanded, wrenching the blade from himself, and seeing in amazement and horror as the wound sealed itself shut.

"You fool!" the Emperor raged, sputtering at the poison on his face, with one arm now useless, "You utter fool! You've ruined us both!"

"No, just you…" Diábolis retorted, grasping both Sith Swords and turned their blades on his old Master. The man drew one of his pair of weapons, spinning out of the way of the heavy metal weapons, and dancing backward.

Veneficus looked up at him, and Diábolis sensed the plan forming in the other Sith's demented mind, even with one eye now milky white and thoroughly blinded. Veneficus was planning to escape. The battle had already taken its toll on him, and with his advantages destroyed he would not face Diábolis in a fair fight.

Although, thinking of what had just occurred, perhaps it was not so fair. Still, he would not allow the man to escape, at least not without more than his share of wounds for all the lives he had destroyed, namely Diábolis' own.

The Devaronian leapt at the human, but Veneficus was prepared, and a torrential wave of telekinesis threw the other Darksider back. Diábolis crashed heavily into the rubble of the obliterated statue, and he was dazed for a mere moment. Unfortunately, that did not stop Veneficus from cracking the ceiling supports, and sending boulders and rubble down on the Devaronian in a tidal flood of rock and sand.

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Severus stood in silence as he processed what Ms. Granger was asking of him. It was clear that she had survived her captivity, and with the handful of Jedi at her side, they had clearly registered the message she had sent correctly. But this…

"You know the risks of that particular substance." Severus said, "We cannot allow such a thing to happen, it will kill everyone and everything."

"Only those with the genetics of a mage-born," Granger retorted, and Severus sucked in a breath. Did she know what she was suggesting?

"I cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself in such a manner," he replied, "we will find another way…"

"There is none!" Hermione shouted, opening up a smaller screen for Severus to see, "the Emperor's secret army is already surging out across Coruscant, killing everyone in their path. They are clones of Zabini, and will die just as readily if we can distribute the toxin across the planet. Without more hosts it will die, and everyone else will be immune."

"Everyone but you," Severus clarified, "If you do this, you will die."

He already suspected exactly how she wanted to get the toxin across the planet. Transforming the liquid into a gas and spreading it like a cloud across the atmosphere would do precisely what she desired, but as it was a contact poison, it would not matter what protective gear she had available, barring a fully insolated flight suit or something similar. Granger was prepared for quite a number of things, but not this.

"I will not allow the Emperor to steal this victory from us," Hermione demanded, "We cannot allow the innocent to die while we wait for rescue. If we can stop this madness now, I must do this.

"At least get yourself to safety first." Severus said, "You cannot even get it on your skin, or it will start its work of killing all your cells."

"I understand the risks, and I have made my choice," Granger said sternly, the fire of her brilliant mind gushing from her eyes, "Now give me the formula!"

Severus hesitated, looking between the concerned Jedi behind her, the fiery passion of the rebel leader, and the chaos that was on the other screen, raging through the street of Coruscant.

Dropping his head slightly, he started recounting the ingredient and instructions for making his mage-born toxin. They had hoped to never use such a weapon, or at least save it for the Emperor himself, but clearly the times had changed, and events had thrust them into the direst of situations.

"Thank you Severus," Granger said when he had finished, and she took off around what seemed to be the most stocked potions lab that Severus had ever seen, not even bothering to close the communication.

"Professor," one of the Jedi said, and Severus recognized Ist the Bothan, "What can we do to help?"

"Protect her," Severus instructed, "even from herself…"

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Veneficus sagged, the weight of his body suddenly dragging him down. He groaned, not wanting to even consider the amount of damage his face had taken from the sudden attack from the acid. His right eye was completely blind, and his left hand was gone. The ritual was disrupted for good, and three of the ancient Sith spirits had been forcefully separated from him.

Everything he had carefully planned was in ruins. Without the Philosopher's Stone, he could not regenerate his body anymore, and that set a dangerously short timer on his lifespan. Glancing through his one good eye at the pile of rubble that covered his former apprentice, Veneficus grit his teeth. If the Devaronian wasn't dead, he would be soon enough, either from being crushed and pinned, or else the Stone he had consumed would slowly poison him. It was the same problem that Veneficus himself had faced. While it elongated life, too much of the Elixir of Life would simply kill the consumer.

In one fell swoop, Diábolis had successfully placed the sword of destruction at the neck of the Sith Order. If Veneficus did not act swiftly, they would become extinct altogether. He convulsed as a racking cough rumbled through his chest, and Veneficus turned to see the blood that had come from within him to splatter the stone.

Something was not right. Stumbling forward, Veneficus started for the exit of the valley. He had to get medical supplies and figure out what was accelerating the decay of his body. After that, there was a great deal of planning that needed to happen. Veneficus was desperate now; he had to survive for the totality of the Sith Order to carry on into the future.

If Diábolis had failed him so perfectly, then the Sith Master needed to find a new apprentice, take control of a new host and carry on as the Sith had before him. The Rule of Two needed to be reintroduced. An heir had to be acquired for the knowledge that Veneficus possessed, and trained quickly.

Returning slowly to the shuttle, his legs growing weak from whatever it was in his system, the Emperor called upon the Dark Side to slow the progress of the poison killing him. His concentration on preserving himself lasted until he was in orbit, and sank slowly into a Bacta tank, allowing the warm healing liquid to slowly mend what little it could, as well a purge some of the deadly toxin from him.

As he floated in the sensory deprivation chamber that constrained the liquid, Veneficus allowed his mind to wander. This was the single greatest defeat he had ever sustained, and he wasn't sure how exactly to process it. Anger, naturally, but there was something akin to pride mixed in. it was almost as though he had wanted Diábolis to rise to the challenge and defeat him.

Still, the fool had not killed him, and therefore had nothing to him except to pursue Veneficus and finish the duel that they had started. That was of course if he survived, although the Emperor was more than certain of the Devaronian's survival. The stone he had consumed would see to that.

Turning his mind inward, Veneficus examined the toxin that was still coursing through his system. It seemed to have been specifically tailored to attack and kill someone like himself. The toxin would invade each and ever cell, destroying the Midiclorians and deserting the rest of the cell. Of course without the life sustaining part of the cells, they too would die in the wake of the rampaging, and growing, substance.

'Trust Granger to allow something as deadly and destructive as this fall into the wrong hands,' he mused silently, fuming as he floated in the tank. He had foreseen that she would release something like this substance over Coruscant, in order to protect the planet from his return, but he had failed to see that his former apprentice would acquire some of it and use it on Veneficus himself.

That was something that puzzled him greatly, and Veneficus mused over his lack of vision regarding the other trained Sith as he emerged from the milky healing matter. Diábolis had learned to move slow and cautiously, evading even the detection through the Force of someone as strong and powerfully gifted as Veneficus.

Under other circumstances it would be commendable, but Veneficus had a hard time imagining anything positive for the being that had hurt him so deeply. There was one ritual that could restore him to a semblance of his former self, but it came with a very difficult challenge.

Such a ritual required a master of both the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force to participate. Veneficus had accepted a long time ago that he himself could not and would never wield the Light in his present body, being so completely devoted to the Dark, but there might be another way for him to achieve the same outcome.

The problem was that he needed to check the source before he moved forward with his plan. And that required traveling to an ancient tomb whose world Veneficus had barred from the Galaxy knowing anything about.

Luckily, it was on the way to his final destination, and therefore he would be taking as minimal time as possible to reach the location of his desired new host.

As the ship sailed through Hyperspace, Veneficus started to notice small deficiencies in his body erupting, most prominently a trembling in his remaining hand that threatened to prevent him from so much as lifting small objects without threat of his hand opening involuntarily and dropping them.

It was an insult above all others, and Veneficus was angered even more by the fact that he was now forced to use the Force just to get by, and the use of the Force would accelerate killing him because of his cells degrading from the extended use of the Dark Side.

"So, now that you're plan has failed, you will turn to an even riskier road…" a voice said behind him.

Veneficus whirled, sneering as the shade of his old Master appeared. Of course it would be Millennial alone that remained with him. "I do not need or desire your judgment or ridicule, Millennial," Veneficus seethed, "I have gone far beyond all that you hoped to accomplish, and I will not die without a fight to keep pushing beyond even all that I have achieved."

"I know you have, even as I had foreseen throughout the time I spent training you," Millennial replied, "But even you must accept, now, that you are stretching for something that cannot happen. Your obsession on keeping your form, this body which is now so thoroughly damaged, has distracted you from the greater calling of subjecting all beings under the rule of the Dark Side…"

"My goal was within my grasp!" Veneficus shouted, energy crackling off of him in anger at the Force ghost and his needling, "I would have achieved the greatest goal of any Sith Lord in history."

"And yet your isolation and rejection of your apprentice caused your downfall, and now the Sith Order is threatened with extinction…" Millennial said, the scathing words magnified by the benign voice that the Sith spirit used. "It is time to put aside your own desires, and refocus on stabilizing the Order. The Jedi are not gone, you know this, and yet you have stopped in the attempt to eradicate them from the Galaxy."

"Yes…" Veneficus said, acknowledging his failing in the complete purpose of the Sith, "Once I am renewed, the Jedi will be destroyed, and their rebellion along with them."

It was time for him to cease hiding in the shadows. Once he discovered the means to stop this poison long enough to seek a suitable host for his great spirit, the Sith Emperor would descend upon the hidden planets of the rebellion and destroy them utterly. No more armies, no more fleets and technology. Through the power of the Dark Side alone he would accomplish all these things.

But first, he had to understand his options with this ritual, and as the shuttle exited Hyperspace over a remote world, little more than an asteroid with an atmosphere, Veneficus felt that he was close to the answer at last.

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Hermione was amazed that most of the ingredients that were needed for the poison was already located in the Emperor's lab. She had honestly expected something elaborate or rare from such a powerful concoction, but Severus had explained that he had worked long and hard to perfect the formula to incorporate the very base of materials.

With a stone cauldron simmering in the center of the room, Hermione stood over the boiling liquid, waiting to add the final ingredient: a sample of Mage-born blood, to prepare the liquid version of the powerful poison.

"What shall we do once it's ready?" Ist asked, standing closer to the door with the remaining Jedi. The howling and banging on the other side was heavily muted by Hermione's spells, which she had had to refresh periodically to prevent the insane clones of Zabini from getting in.

"We need to deliver the poison to a ventilation port for the temple, where I can cause the chain reaction to turn the poison into a gas and duplicate it, allowing it to be ejected into the atmosphere and rain down over the planet." Hermione explained quietly.

She was concentrating carefully on the liquid before her, waiting for it to turn so that she could add her blood. That would stabilize the poison for the trip to the nearest maintenance access, which luckily was in the archive, although down a floor and likely blocked to them by a multitude of waiting Zabini clones.

"We can use some of it to purge those in our way, and clear your route with the main body of the poison," Ist suggested, and Hermione nodded. The poison changed, turning red and she quickly made a cut on her hand, squeezing as much of her own blood into the cauldron as she could. It bubbled and fizzled, changing the liquid to a sickening orange color, and Hermione closed the wound with her wand.

"It's ready," she said, pulling out vials from her coat and picking up a large ladle from the nearby work station. It was eerie that everything had been so thoroughly prepared for them, and Hermione feared that this too was part of the Emperor's plan. The first six vials were given to the Jedi, two each, to use on those waiting in the archive. Hermione would wait for the all clear before emerging herself with the remainder. She could not risk dying before they got the poison to the ventilation and transformed it, as her magic was required to multiply the gas once it was transfigured.

"I'm unsealing the door, be ready, try to splash as many as you can, the poison only needs skin contact to start working," she explained, slowly pulling away the wards over the door.

"Yes, Director," Ist replied, saber in hand and a vial in the other.

"For the Republic…" Hermione said solemnly, and flicked her wand at the door. The final seal, as well as the door's locking mechanism sprang open, and the horde of savage-looking mage-born greeted them.

The Jedi took no hesitation before flinging the first volley of three vials into the horde, rupturing them with the Force and spreading as much of the toxin as possible. The reaction was immediate. The front line of clones suddenly collapsed, shrieking as the poison started to eat away at their cells, magic wafting away from them free as contact poison started to destabilize their already unstable bodies.

With that initial attack, they were able to push through, even as the door sealed behind them. Hermione watched as the three Jedi tore through the reeling crowd of clones, those not splashed with the remainder of the posion cut down with their blades as they attempted to retreat. It was curious to see that the clones still felt and acted on fear, extremely unlike the Imperial Royal guards that had hardened their emotions and were immovable when confronted.

"Director!" a voice came over her communicator, and Hermione quickly brought up the channel on the screen, trusting that the Jedi would succeed without her guidance, "Admiral Weasley," she said, her heart surging. While Ron had been an annoyance in their younger days, it was emboldening for her to see that other mage-born had come to help in the liberation of Coruscant.

"The Imperial command fleet is coming, our sensors are going crazy," the graying red-head said, looking tense.

Hermione understood why instantly. The _Terrasque_ , the massive super-ship that dwarfed anything created in the Neo-Sith wars. If that world devastating cruiser entered orbit, their entire liberation would fall apart.

"Is there anything you can do to stop them?" Hermione asked quickly, knowing that there was a touch of panic in her voice.

"We can delay them from trying to confront the planet, but I wouldn't hold your breath for us stopping them completely." Ron replied, looking grim.

"Do what you can, we need time to save the populace from the emperor's contingency plan," Hermione said quickly.

"I heard from Professor Snape…" the admiral said, "It has been an honor serving under you, Hermione… and for the record, I wish I had been kinder to you when we were kids…"

"Thank you," Hermione said, turning as there was asharp knock on the metal door that sealed her away from the rest of the Archive. That was the signal that all was clear for her to transport the poison.

"Commander Flitwick will be here soon, we will hold out as long as we can," Ronald said, saluting once again, "good luck."

"And to you as well," Hermione replied, closing the communication and carefully shifting the cauldron with her magic to the door.

It hissed open and Ist was waiting there, looking tired yet unharmed.

"We have several minutes before more of them arrive, I think. We better move quickly to get this done before the others converge on our location." She said.

Hermione nodded, keeping a fair distance from the floating cauldron as it bobbed along at her silent commands. The nearest access point to the ventilation system was one floor down and on the other side of the archive. Getting to the stairs was simple enough, but as they started to descend, Ist paused, looking upward through the ceiling.

"Something just entered the system," she said, sounding concerned.

"It's the _Terrasque_ ," Hermione said, "Admiral Weasley will delay them as long as he can, and Professor Flitwick with the rest of our forces are on their way."

"But can we hold out long enough with that threat literally looming over us?" Ist asked.

Hermione didn't answer, focusing on making the cauldron float as carefully as possible. The poison wasn't volatile, but she treated is as such regardless. Above them, there was a shout of warning, and the clash of sabers.

"They're coming," Ist said, drawing her weapon, but keeping the blade off for some semblance of stealth, "we need to hurry."

Hermione nodded. The ventilation system chamber was close, and once inside they could barricade themselves inside. A pair of clones appeared at the other end from the chamber from them, snarling and wide eyed. The other remaining Jedi leapt between the two groups, brandishing the green saber threateningly, trying to draw the clones' attention away from Hermione and the cauldron of their doom.

"Nearly there," she said to herself, urging the cauldron onward without bumping or tilting the container. The door was open for her, and she slipped inside before the cauldron, urging it in as fast as she dared. Ist slipped in behind, and the door slammed shut. Once the cauldron was settled on a nearby table, Hermione had wards and spells flowing out of her wand, sealing them inside.

From the other side, the clash of sabers and howls of agony told her that the other two Jedi were battling for their lives to prevent the clones from advancing on the door.

"We must move quickly," Ist said, ripping a panel that covered the ventilation ducts from outside exposure.

Hermione floated the cauldron over and poured the poison into the system. As she had feared, there was no protective gear whatsoever in the room, leaving her direly exposed for when the liquid was changed into a gas. "It has been a pleasure to work alongside the Jedi Order for so long," she said to Ist, fighting back tears as she knew her eventual end.

"Is there no other way?" Ist asked, and Hermione heard the desperation in the Jedi's voice.

"I'm afraid not," she confirmed, and twisted her wand, allowing the empty cauldron to drop with a heavy clang as she started transfiguring the poison into a gas, as well as multiplying it, forcing the new toxic gas through the ventilation system with great force. Ist and the other Jedi would be immune, but those with the capability of magic would die. Hermione trusted that Severus had more than perfected his creation.

Because of the nature of the gas, even with a powerful shield charm over the container, the toxin started to eat away at the magic keeping it out of the chamber that Hermione was in, and she could not stop the process to pump the gas out of the system in order to refresh her shield. If she stopped, the pressure would be lost and she would have to start again multiplying the gas, if it didn't all dissipate before she recommenced.

Glancing up at the monitor after a few minutes of working, Hermione was at least pleased to note that the gas was starting to pour out of the other temple vents, and the remaining clones throughout the building were collapsing as they came into contact with the various clouds of poison.

But it wasn't enough. Quickly typing out on the nearby console with her free hand, the other maintain a solid grip on her wand and chanting the spells over and over, Hermione took command of the ventilation, closing as many vents as she could in order to funnel the gas out to the top of the temple, pressure building all along the way. The one downside was the added pressure worked in both directions, pushing back on the open vent where Hermione was forcing the gas into the system from.

Hermione kept working furiously, only growing slightly worried when the haze of poison started to slip around her shield. But she couldn't allow herself to be distracted by the smallest trickle of the gas. She shifted slightly to be away from where the gas was entering the room, even though Ist was there. The Jedi used the Force to add a layer around her shield where the gas congregated. A true feat a of precision and control for the non magic-user, and Hermione nodded in thanks, before focusing all her attention of her task

"Almost there," she said, sensing more that seeing the reading for the built pressure in the temple's ventilation system. Critical mass was approaching quickly, and Hermione knew that the pressure would be sufficient to blast enough of the gas into the local air, and shower it across the area where the clones were trying to expand.

But at the same time, her shield would not be able to handle the blowback, even with Ist's help. Praying to whatever being existed out in the great unknown for a peaceful passing, Hermione twisted her wand, accelerating her spells and triggering the critical mass of gas filling the vents.

From the view screen, she spotted the small trickle out of the uppermost vents of the temple change to a streaming pool of gas, and finally become a violent torrent, blasting the vent off altogether. Knowing that now was the moment to detonate a chain reaction that would throw as much as possible; she whispered her spell, " _Engorgio_."


	32. C31: Desperation

**Much appreciation for those who reviewed and sent messages for the previous chapter. I've actually started to contemplate whether I should go back after this story is finished posting and do a thorough edit of the entire Veneficus trilogy, highlighting those places that were not expressly my best writing. I would appreciate thoughts on this matter, whether I should edit and repost the entire story, perhaps adding in more detail and sharpening some of the early work that was when I was significantly less skilled as a writer (in my opinion). Hoping for much feedback on that idea, on with the next chapter! ~F**

 **Chapter Thirty One**

 **Desperation**

Diábolis groggily awoke, feeling the tremendous pressure and pain of a literal ton of rubble crushing him. Pinned, he couldn't move any part of his body, and was genuinely unsure why he was alive in this situation. He knew that Veneficus had to be gravely wounded by his attacks, and with no legitimate means of regenerating his body, the madman would die eventually, but the old Sith Lord had defeated him.

How then was he still alive? Allowing the Force to rush through him Diábolis threw the rubble off of him, and standing quickly, Diábolis examined himself. Despite the intense pain, as though he had been crushed completely, there was not a single injury or bruise on him.

Puzzled by this, Diábolis extricated himself from the remaining rubble and examined the remainder of the room. Veneficus was gone, unsurprisingly, but he had left a great deal behind. Out of everything, the Scepter of Ragnos lay there on the ground, cast aside and forgotten. The metal blade that Veneficus had used, and contained all the power from the scepter, lay next to the remaining part of its frame.

The fact that Veneficus would leave behind his most prized artifact told Diábolis just how badly he had harmed the man. Diábolis gathered the item, sheathing the blade back into the scepter, and felt the strength of the Dark Side course through the artifact.

It would be a powerful tool for establishing his reign over the Galaxy once Veneficus was good and dead. The problem therein was, now that the Emperor was gravely injured and on the run, Diábolis had no idea where he might have gone.

However… glancing at the two artifacts of power around him, Diábolis had a thought of how he could locate his old master's whereabouts and destination. Stepping toward the central golden orb that represented the nigh unlimited Force energy of the Valley, he pointed the Scepter of Ragnos at it, allowing the power of the Force in each to merge and wash over him. Casting his mind outward, seeking the threads of the Master-Apprentice bond that was unbreakable between the two Sith Lords, Diábolis dove headfirst into the nexus of power around him.

His vision swam with the ebb and flow of the Galaxy. Diábolis saw and heard many things. He saw Coruscant, the prime jewel of the Galaxy, swimming in a toxic gas that would serve to liberate the world from Imperial control for many generations. Dromund Kaas fell back into the jungle ruins that it had been for millennia, with a dark power living in secret at its core.

Diábolis understood. The Empire was already on the brink of failure, and it was Veneficus who had caused his own structure to crumble beneath him. There would be nothing left for Diábolis to inherit once he defeated his master.

That angered Diábolis, and he narrowed his focus and will. Veneficus would not escape his wrath now. The vision shifted, and Diábolis saw the jungle world of Dathomir, the shadows parting as a ship would sometime soon land upon its surface.

Within the heart of the jungle, something sinister pulsed with tremendous power, and that something was what the Emperor would seek, in order to achieve another opportunity to annihilate the Galaxy in his mad desires.

Diábolis could now allow that to happen. Withdrawing from the vision with a burst of will, he knew where he had to go to pursue Veneficus, and not until the man lay dead at his feet could the Sith Order move on.

They would have to sink back into the shadows once more, and Diábolis had the feeling that it would be even more difficult for them to maneuver into a position to take over the Galaxy once more. But Diábolis would cross that bridge when he arrived at it. Because of Veneficus, he would never rule the Galaxy, but Diábolis was prepared to begin again the Rule of Two and set the Sith once again on the path toward total control of the Republic.

He was under every impression that the Republic would return. His vision had shown him enough to come to that conclusion. And Veneficus still held the key to the Sith's survival in this renewed golden age that would return for the Jedi and their allies.

Walking carefully, his confidence in his pristine and unharmed condition swelling as he went, Diábolis made his way out of the ritual area of the Valley of the Jedi, quickly locating his shuttle, and the absence of the other ship that the Emperor had to have used for his escape.

Ignoring the body of the pilot that he had killed what felt like years ago, the Devaronian boarded the ramp and activated the engines, lifting off without preamble. He programmed the destination of Dathomir, using the swiftest route possible to take him there. Through his hidden sources, the same that had discovered the rebel's poison, he had acquired much of their resources regarding the alternative Hyperspace routes, and he was impressed that some of them were quite elaborate, and allowed him to cut a great deal of time off the typically roundabout route to the overgrown jungle world.

He doubted that he would beat his old master to the planet, but he would be in time to intervene if he was to try anything, or even arrive at the same time depending on how long the man took in detours and stops for his failing body.

'Odd,' Diábolis mused as he watched the ship enter Hyperspace. He had always imagined that their final duel would be either in the royal palaces of Dromund Kaas or Coruscant proper, surrounded by onlookers that would herald Diábolis publicly the rightful successor of the Emperor. But it seemed that it was not to be, and instead of glory and honor he would have a lifetime of work ahead of him to piece together what would shatter around them because of the selfishness of Veneficus.

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Ronald Weasley had seen and done many things in his lifetime. But facing down the most massive super ship in the Galaxy in an understaffed, cobbled together cruiser with his remaining trusted friends and companions was not what he had ever expected to be his final moments.

And yet here he was, with the _Terrasque_ bearing down on their position, and shields dangerously in the red. "Throw everything we have at that monster of a ship," he ordered, glaring with unflinching focus at the holographic display of the battlefield, searching for something, anything, that might give them an opening.

The hulking ship seemed to have been built with no flaw in its defenses whatsoever. Overlapping shields, as well as stolen technology from their war-time repertoire, constantly cycled to prevent their attacks from even scratching the hull of the massive beast. It could sit there and pound them for days without even needing a break.

Mentally, he ran through all the experimental weapons that they had on board. The Director had made sure that they were well equipped for nearly all contingencies, and in turn they had brought as much as they dared onto the Imperial ship for the rescue attempt. The problem was that they were mostly built for escaping danger of this magnitude, not holding out or trying to actually take down such a massive ship.

Nevertheless, he knew that there had to be something that could give them an edge, or at least make the commander of that super ship have pause against snuffing them out.

"Admiral," an ensign at the communications station shouted, "Commander Flitwick has sent a message, they are nearly here to reinforce us."

Ronald nodded in response. There was little that the last, ragtag ships of their fleet would be able to help them with here, but it was reassuring notwithstanding the danger. "Fire experimental torpedoes 23-B," he said, eyes widening with realization.

They had a chance. It was something so absolutely new that the Imperials couldn't possibly have prepared a defense for it. "Target the bridge, and fire!" he shouted, watching the blue streaks of the missiles fly outward from their front-facing batteries.

There was only a half dozen of the experimental missles among the volley, mixed in with many normal torpedoes, just to confuse the point defense system that the massive ship had, more stolen tech from their side. Half of the missiles were torn to shreds before they even reached the shields of the _Terrasque_ , but of those that made it at least three were the special new torpedoes.

"Take that you bastards," Ronald said to himself, even as the magical EMP charges detonated on contact with the shields, rocking the massive hull slightly and negating their defenses.

"Open fire with everything we have! I want as much flak on that ship before they get their shields up again, then repeat. We have to do as much damage to them before Commander Flitwick arrives!" he shouted to his crew, even as they cheered at the small victory over the most powerful ship in the Imperial Navy.

Missiles and turbo laser fire flashed out from their ship, spraying across the exposed hull of the _Terrasque_ , and scaring the reinforced armor that protected the internal parts of the ship. Ronald knew that they had precious little time before the shields reestablished, and he nodded, signaling to their officers to fire experimental weapons.

They did so, launching a barrage of bizarre and strange projectiles. Even Ronald did not know what they all did, but the handful of Magi-tech scientists that were assigned to their crew had intimate knowledge of their pet projects. The Admiral didn't care, if one or more of them inflicted damage on the ship they were fighting, he would be appreciative.

"Shields reengaging, Admiral!" another officer called, and Ron nodded, "move to escape their retaliatory strike, and fire another barrage of EMP missiles," he ordered. The game had only just begun. They had a strategy now, and it was only a matter of surviving long enough to see the behemoth before them taken down.

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Fury had studied the insane chatter that had erupted across all Imperial channels. The Emperor had vanished, and the rebels were now attacking Coruscant, hoping to take control of the center of their former Republic once more.

What was more, all communication with Dromund Kaas had ceased, and a massive fleet was moving to support the defense of the Galactic center. Diábolis had also fallen off the radar of chatter, which infuriated the Marauder.

Everything in the Empire seemed to be crumbling around them, with various governors and system leaders crying out for aid as their people started a mass revolt, almost spurred on by the rebel attack on Coruscant.

"With this, the Empire is ruined." He said to himself, still scanning the mass of voices for anything that would help him. If the rumors were to be believed, Sith Master and Apprentice had killed each other and they had been left leaderless.

Shutting off the holoprojector tuned into the mass network, Fury seethed inwardly. Everything that he had striven to accomplish seemed futile now. An entire life, from Jedi Padawan to Sith warlord all wasted. In his anger, he determined that he would do one thing before disappearing from the sights of the Galaxy. He would avenge himself on Zhar Quelmok, his old master, if it was the last thing he did.

The man wanted to hide in his new holdings on Dromund Kaas, then Fury would raise the Imperial Capital to the ground in order to find and kill him. "Admiral, set our course for Dromund Kaas. I suspect that they are planning to seize control of the Empire for themselves," he said, knowing that it would take little to convince his men to fight against their own.

In the meantime, Fury started planning a long campaign to flush out Zhar from his palace. Establishing control of space around the planet was paramount, and while the Imperial Central Station was the hub of all communication in the Empire, it had to be taken by Fury, or else destroyed to sever any chance of Zhar from calling for aid.

Blandly, he realized that it would also sever all Imperial communication throughout the Galaxy, and therefore lend further to the destabilization of the Empire, but in his rage he did not care. Zhar would die, or else Fury would die in the attempt. And he had a ship full of warriors versus a planet that had sent its military away to fight the rebels.

"Calamity," he said into his communicator, "prepare the Black Fist, we have work to do, and traitors to slay…"

"Yes, my Master…" the Troll replied, and Fury sensed the flutter of activity as his warriors prepared for battle.

"Prepare for us, Zhar… I am coming for you…" the Marauder said, casting his mind ahead to the fire and bloodshed that was to come. He did not care anymore for the Empire, it was already burning. He would feel the satisfaction of overcoming his former mentor, and anything afterward did not matter.

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Ist was not prepared for the massive explosion from the ventilation system when the Director intoned her spell. Gas flooded the room, and the two females fell back. In a flash, a bubble of clean air surrounded Director Granger's head, but Ist new that this would only slow the poison.

Indeed she fell back and collapsed against the far wall. Glancing around, Ist used the Force to slam the hatch back in place on the vent, preventing any more of the gas to enter, and shifted the air around them to force the gas out of the room.

"Look…" the Director said, her voice weak. Ist glanced at the screen that the Mage-born was indicating, and she saw the gas exploding out of the top of the Temple, and washing over the city sector around them.

"That will kill most of the clones, and greatly injure the rest," Hermione said, pausing to cough.

Ist was shocked with how fast the poison was killing her. She rushed to Hermione's side, working the Force to see what healing she could achieve, but the damage the poison caused was insanely precise. It targeted the victim on the cellular level, and outpaced any attempts that Ist had to repair the damaged cells.

"I can't save you…" she said dejectedly.

Hermione placed a hand on the Bothan's head, "It's alright…" she wheezed, blood trickling out of her mouth, shrouded as it was by the bubble of magic around her head. Her voice echoed slightly as she spoke, "I would gladly give my life to restore the Republic. The Emperor and his guards cannot come here anymore. The poison will merge with the atmosphere, and linger for years to come. Warn the other Mage-born to stay away, for their own safety. It's up to the Jedi to take command here."

"I understand, Director," Ist said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Promise me, that the Republic will return, and last well beyond all this darkness and gloom." Hermione begged, closing her eyes tiredly.

"I will see to it," Ist promised, watching the chest of the rebel leader slow and finally stop. It was eerie how peacefully she perished, while the clones had thrashed and wailed in their deaths. Apparently, the mental will of the genius engineer was enough for her to accept the concept of her own death. The bubble dissipated as she died, the last of her magic washing away.

Ist bowed her head, wishing that the Force would carry the brave and intelligent woman gently into itself. But she did not have the time at this moment to mourn. She had to carry out the woman's final order, and lead the remaining rebels to victory here on Coruscant, so that they could reestablish the Republic.

Exiting the room, the last remaining Jedi Knight turned to her, "the gas worked, all the clones in the temple are dead," he said, and Ist nodded.

"We need to go out and rally the rebels into the temple." She said, and they set off through the deserted and body strewn corridors. Ist had sorely underestimated how many of the clones had been running through the halls, and there were points where she spotted the black armor of a royal Arcanamach fallen in the act of fighting the rampaging clones.

Hermione had sacrificed herself to stop a force that would go after even the other servants of their master. A true dooms-day army that needed to be stopped.

They exited the temple, and found the small group of remaining troopers and Jedi that had held the front of the temple, all looking into the sky. Looking up as well, Ist cringed as she spotted the hulking shape of the Imperial super ship: _The Terrasque_.

And, looking like a fly in the face of a lion, the stolen Imperial ship that the rebels had claimed in their attack, and had loaded with everything they could scramble together for the rescue of their leader, stood in its path to the planet.

"We need to get everyone inside the temple," Ist said, urging those around her to tear their eyes from the space battle above, "and raise the shields over the location, and the planet."

Slowly, the group started to obey, carrying the wounded and dragging supplies from the shuttles into the temple, and sealing the massive doors to the outside.

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Zhar sat in meditation with his two High Prophets, at the highest point of the former Imperial Palace of Dromund Kaas, now coined between the three of them as the temple of the Dark Side. All their military forces and most of those that were utterly loyal to Veneficus had been sent to fight at Coruscant, and together they had foreseen their downfall.

By and large, the three of them had full control of the system, and were preparing for that which was to come. Zhar knew of the one threat that still loomed over them. Fury was coming to slay him, in light of the destabilization of the Empire and the disappearance of the Emperor.

"They will destroy the space station," Euka said, deep in the flow of the Force alongside Zhar and Jol.

The Duro added, "In doing so they will sever all Imperial communications, isolating our world for many years from the rest of the Galaxy."

"Which is what we desired above all else," Zhar finished, feeling the line of the future waver and throb in the Force as they probed and examined it in depth. Through records that he had found, Zhar had learned of the powers of group meditation, and the ability for multiple Dark Side users to accurately predict and manipulate the future.

They had been enthralled to this form of meditation for days now, perfecting it and observing the rest of the failing Empire from afar.

"The man is a fool, and will attempt to lay siege to our world, slaying the remainder of those that would not join with us, and throwing away many of his soldiers to our preparations." Euka continued, peeling away the shroud of the future with great ease. She above the three of them had taken to this skill the fastest, and often was the lead in their meditations.

"Preparations that we need to make now in order to inflict as much damage as possible, and force Fury to face us himself, so that he might at last learn his place, and be removed from our mutual side as the thorn he is." Zhar said, pulling them back to reality. The only downside of the oracle ability was the addictive nature of it. It took a sheer force of will to extricate them from the trance, and Zhar could tell that it would grow steadily harder the more they used it.

"I will handle the station, and organize it to force the attackers to waste much of their energy destroying it," Jol said, his voice calmer and more reserved than before they had started diving deeply into the future.

"And I will see to rigging the city into a deathtrap for their land forces." Euka added, and Zhar nodded his acknowledgement.

"I will prepare a goading broadcast to lure Fury in personally, and make him charge recklessly into the traps, before preparing myself mentally for the fight that is to come."

"Do not underestimate him," Euka warned, "he is younger and stronger than you, even if he is a fool. His physical strength is still a great threat to us."

Zhar nodded. He did not need the added warning, but they had all been seeing the level of strength that Fury would unleash in his attempt at petty revenge. They separated, and Zhar descended to the communication chamber, and quickly opened a communication with the approaching fleet.

The officer who answered widened his eyes in surprise at seeing the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, but before he could speak or react the man was shoved aside by Fury, the metallic-armed monster glaring angrily at Zhar through the holographic projector.

"I know you are coming," Zhar said evenly, his tone muted and calm from the hours of communal meditation, "And I urge you to rethink your plan. We have become more powerful than you know, and will defeat any force that you throw at us in your rage."

"You have no forces wherewith to prevent it, so forgive me if I find your threat hard to believe," Fury replied, and his stubborn anger was easy enough to predict even without foresight.

"So be it," Zhar replied, "throw away your soldier's lives if you must. It's always been something you've excelled at…"

"Don't you dare mock me!" Fury shouted, his easily provoked anger overflowing.

Zhar ignored him, and ended the communication. The bait was set, and Fury would come flying in without even a second thought of his men's safely. Those fanatically loyal to him would perish, and those with wiser minds would abandon him the moment he left their ship.

Pulling out his communicator, Zhar contacted the others, "He is spurred on his course."

"Good," Jol stated, "I have arrived at the station, and will be programming its automated defenses shortly for full battle mode."

"Most of the strategic buildings are now emptied," Euka added, "and I have demolition teams and other troopers manning them, with orders to destroy the buildings if it means eliminating their opposition."

"Then we are nearly prepared." Zhar affirmed, "I will retire, and prepare myself for the coming conflict."

"Very good, Supreme Prophet," Jol replied, and they ended the call.

Zhar withdrew back to the top floor of the temple, drawing his saber hilt and sinking into a deep personal meditation. He needed to conserve and gather as much energy in the Force as he could, as fighting Fury in pure marshal tactics would be the death of him. Strategy and an ample amount of the Force would be required to secure a final victory in the coming duel.

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Veneficus stumbled out of the shuttle, still trying to gain his balance with the lack of an eye. The tiny tomb world had long lost any name in recent history. The planet itself was so small it might have been considered an asteroid with a limited atmosphere, requiring the use of an oxygen mask. But the underground tomb was quite elaborate, from what Veneficus sensed.

He had forbidden this world for others to set foot on regardless, knowing that there was a fair few in the Empire that were tampering with powers far too great for their pathetic purposes in his grand design. All that was in ruins now, and Veneficus needed the knowledge that waited deep within.

While the tomb lacked the opulence of those on Korriban, there was a suitable level of detail and design present as Veneficus entered the cavernous opening to the massive cave network. Hieroglyphics lined the walls, painting a clear and unabashedly overblown picture of the ancient Sith that was entombed here.

Details of the being's life were supposed represented there, and as Veneficus wound himself deeper, the more he seriously doubted their authenticity. There had been no incursion of a magic based society in the Galaxy before, and yet there was a depiction of this Sith Lord blocking what was clearly spells with the merest wave of his hand.

The final chamber was sealed by a massive door, showcasing the most ludicrous scenario he had witnessed yet. The Sith was destabilizing a moon out of its orbit with the Force alone. "Absurd…" Veneficus muttered aloud. He embodied the greatest achievement that the Sith in any age had every reached, and while he did not doubt that gravity itself would have bent to his will at his height, there was no chance that another had reached the same level of power before him.

The audacity of the mural was that the depiction of the moon had to be moved in order to open the door to open, adding more to the self aggrandizement of the entombed Sith within.

Entering in a swirl of dust and stale air, Veneficus quickly scanned the rather traditional tomb chamber. The sarcophagus was a clear choice for the information that he sought, but there were urns and other items scattered about on pedestals throughout the chamber.

It only took a single careful circle around the chamber revealed that there was no openly findable repository of knowledge. That left the sarcophagus.

Without even pausing, Veneficus removed the lid with the Force. What he found was more of a surprise than he had expected.

There was no mummified corpse. While not completely unusual, as many Sith were not interred in their specific tombs, there was indeed a Holocron waiting within.

There might be answers there to the mystery, and even more for the ritual that he needed to preserve his life. If there was any way to utilize the Light side of the Force without giving up the Dark, he needed to know it in full.

Lifting the tiny pyramid out of the empty tomb, Veneficus allowed the Force to flow through him into the device, activating it as he turned to depart from the cavern system. He had little time to actually interrogate the Gatekeeper of the Holocron, and had to make sure that he was on his way to Dathomir as swiftly as possible.

"Who disturbs the rest of this, the Holocron of Darth Thanatos?" the human gatekeeper said, throwing back the black hood of his holographic robes.

Veneficus rolled his eye at the theatrics. It was a clear flaw of the old technology. Holocrons never permitted themselves to actually declare themselves the same being as the individual that created them.

"Darth Veneficus, Sith Emperor of the Neo-Sith Empire, commands you to reveal the secrets you possess to me." Veneficus declared. Most Holocrons of a pre-Revan nature were more than willing to give up their secrets without any sort of fuss, but he wasn't willing to take the chance of the Gatekeeper finding him unworthy.

"Of course, Majesty," the holographic figure said, bowing slightly in mock reverence, "how can this one be of assistance to such a being of great strength and power?"

"The ritual of regeneration, which required the combination of Light and Dark," Veneficus said, narrowing the information that the Gatekeeper would search through in order to answer him, "If one cannot acquire a Force user of the Light to willingly assist them, can possession be an acceptable alternative?"

"You refer to using the Essence Tranfer in order to control a Lightsider to regenerate your own body, and then repossessing the original?" the Gatekeeper asked, looking thoughtful. "It may work. Darth Thanatos planned much along those lines of seeking immortality, before simply relegating to Essence Transfer alone, because of the risk of instant death from becoming disembodied."

Veneficus was silent, knowing that that risk was null for him. He had means of anchoring himself to the living Galaxy, and none would be able to banish him to the netherworld while it existed.

"But would it work," he insisted, even as he exited the cave network and made for the shuttle.

"In theory it could, but you'd have to tap into the fading consciousness of the sacrifice before they were utterly destroyed, and work quickly to harness their connection to the light before your own darkness snuffed them out of existence." The Gatekeeper mused.

"So there is a chance…" Veneficus said, solidifying his intentions.

"What more do you desire of me?" the Gatekeeper asked again, thinking it's initial request complete.

Veneficus started up the shuttle, and set it to autopilot to Dathomir, before considering. There wasn't much to do while he waited, so he might as well indulge his curiosity. "What was the final fate of Darth Thanatos? Where is he truly entombed?"

"He lives." The Gatekeeper replied instantly.

"Impossible, tell me the truth," Veneficus retorted with a snort. The man would have to be thousands of years old in order to be living.

"I do not lie, he lives…" the figure insisted.

"Then how did he manage that feat?" Veneficus said, still doubtful, but wondering.

"That information was not stored. Darth Thanatos himself placed this receptacle into the tomb before departing for a voyage out of the Galaxy. He sought other worlds and to explore the cosmos, to find a place where the Dark Side ruled with absolute authority, without the petty squabbling and infighting that existed here."

"So, he was weak, and decided to flee instead of fight for his right to rule here…" Veneficus said with finality. "Just another gifted fool, unwilling to use his gifts for their proper purpose…"

Veneficus wasn't sure if the information was accurate. Gatekeepers tended to have a portion of their creator's personality imbued into them, and if this Thanatos was a liar, then potentially so was the Gatekeeper. The real information would not be possible to shroud to one of any real power in the Dark Side. That went against the programming and design of the Sith Holocron.

Therefore, Veneficus dismissed the information about the other Sith Lord. Even if true, then there was no usefulness that this Thanatos would be to Veneficus. Either Thanatos was dead or else was well beyond anyone's reach. And even if he were, the show of weakness to contact another for help would be devastating to the Emperor's self image.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, and the future that was in his grasp, Veneficus scowled. Lovegood would not be easy to take control of, with Gor-lak residing inside her as well. Veneficus knew that his punishment had been perfect for the pair of them, but now with the different circumstances he wished that he had just captured the Jedi and kept her for torment himself.

There was also Diábolis, shining with a radiant level of power chasing after him, and Veneficus knew that his former apprentice had used the Valley of the Jedi to see where he was going and what he planned. Their movements had gone beyond the subtle, and currently he was trying to trap Veneficus and defeat him in the end.

It was problematic, but Veneficus had a level of confidence that he would be able to capture the being that Lovegood and Gor-lak had become, destroy his former apprentice, and finally reclaim his own healed and empowered body. Then, after all else was complete, he would return and finish the immortality ritual he had started, and everything would be as it ought to have been.

"Will it really be that easy?" Millennial said, appearing and clearly having eavesdropped on Veneficus' thoughts.

"What choice do I have?" the Emperor retorted.

"None," Millennial admitted, "but you've underestimated them all once, to your suffering. I am merely warning you not to make the same mistake."

"She is of no concern to me now," Veneficus said hotly, "Everything is perfectly in hand, and I will see victory blossom before me."

"Will you now?" Millennial said, sounding doubtful. But before Veneficus could snap back at the ghost of his former master, Millennial faded away into the Force, leaving him alone once more.

Seething from the condensation of his long dead mentor, Veneficus looked to the future, allowing his rage to fuel the Force around him, and peer with one good eye into the shrouded mysteries that awaited him.

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A tremor in the Force rippled across the world of Dathomir, now barren and devoid of sentient life, bar one. The creature lifted its head from the dirt. Such agony had been wracking it over the past indeterminate period, a racking torment that tore at the foundation of its being. But now, the tormentor was returning, and they were united in one all-surpassing goal.

Revenge…

The figure laughed as it stood, the sound echoing and being reverberated by some dark sinister force behind the vocalization. Minds that had blended together had lost nearly all semblance of the time when they had been separate entities, dueling over control of the singular body, each giving ground only when their shared life was threatened.

Now they were one in purpose, and one in form. And they would need a name for themselves. Reaching back into their shared past memories, one of the pair drifting far farther than the other, the being sought for something that would explain their existence; a choice title for their pain and hatred.

That which came to meet them once more was oft called the Darkness by the younger of the twin memories. How apt that they would meet darkness with darkness, and thus a name was formed. From an ancient, dead people and language, the name of darkness was taken for their shared suffering.

And added to that was the prospects that they held for the future. Others would come to them in due time, a future of young acolytes that would strive for their mutual approval, like a child to a parent. They would therefore adapt the most caring of titles, and hone these wandering children into weapons for their war against the Sith.

"I am Mother… Mother Talzin…" the female figure spoke, understanding flowing into the feminine form.

Rising to her feet, Talzin felt her strength returning and understood the peril coming for her.

"Veneficus…" she hissed, the echoing darkness of her power radiating around her. The hated Sith Lord was coming to finish her off for his own mad desires. And yet, there was another daring to come to the world that Talzin would claim as her own.

"Interesting…" she mused, "the master and the apprentice had a falling out…"

If they wanted to bring their personal vendetta here, she would create a battlefield worthy of their skill and vile power. Diving deeply into the magic that she held from both memories, Talzin expelled forth the green mist of her power, "Rise!" she chanted, "Rise, fallen ones, and serve me in death!"

The green mist of her magic flooded over the planet, and Talzin felt the corpses of the fallen stagger back to their feet all across the world. An army of the dead, at her command against the fool that sought her death.

She must prepare for the Sith's arrival. "Marshal at the hidden caves!" she intoned, sending out a singular command to her army, and turned to walk through the dense and deserted undergrowth. The caves were not far, and she had time enough to conjure an appearance worthy of her vaunted soon-to-be guests.

Inside the caves, she observed her own reflection in the pools therein. Where once there had been a clear radiance of the Light side of the Force, all was gone. Pale white skin seemed stretched over bones that had elongated and altered to house both manifestations of magic within her. Her hair had all fallen out and was long gone in the wind. Fingers, claw-like and long twined easily through the air as she conjured raiment appropriate for her visitors.

Crimson cloth appeared, and slowly wrapped itself around her naked form, billowing and moving on the ethereal wind of her magic. The color felt appropriate for the dark enemy that sought to face her once more. They would find more than they bargained with in Talzin.

Veneficus sought a Light side Jedi in his search, but all he would find is what he had left behind: the greatest of all Dark Witches that the Galaxy had ever seen.

And Talzin would prove that her magic was greater than the vaunted Force power of the Sith Emperor, and triumph over him once and for all. Vengeance was her to be had, on every atrocity that the sick creature had wrought in his unbearable long and destructive life.


	33. C32: United by Hatred

**Chapter Thirty Two**

 **United by Hatred**

Fury glowered at the Imperial capital world. Dromund Kaas seemed emptier than it typically was, and yet there was still a flurry of activity swarming the lower atmosphere, as well as the massive station that orbited the planet.

Control of this station, the prime hub for all Imperial communication in the Galaxy, was paramount for occupying and laying effective siege on the planet. Fury had already given his orders, and his fleet eagerly advanced, drawing the fire from the station and what few defensive spacecraft were left to Zhar's forces.

"Calamity will lead the ground force to take the station," Fury said, "while we turn our attention to landing troops in Neo Kaas City. Zhar may have the palace, but I will rip everything else out from under his control."

That had been some time ago, and while he had been in contact with his apprentice, Fury was concerned that his objective was taking far too long. Patience was not one of Fury's virtues, and he lifted the comlink to his chin once more, ready to call his apprentice and get another update.

He was interrupted by a brilliant flash of light from the station, and widened his eyes as the entire station tore itself apart in a violent explosion. "Calamity!" he called, activating the communication device. Nothing but static sounded on the other end, and Fury crushed the device in his hand.

Zhar had deafened and silenced the entire Empire in order to slay some of the Marauder's forces. There was no way they had known that his own apprentice would be there, but the sheer shock of the event turned to anger and bile in his chest.

"I want every available soldier on the ground within the hour." He ordered, seething, "move into position to bombard the city, and if we fail I want everything devastated."

None dared to question his orders, and Fury turned and marched to the hangar, his own revenge stirring his actions and focusing his vision to one singular goal. Shuttles were already launching as he arrived, and he claimed a spot in the next wave of shuttles.

It must have been obvious on his face the rage he was feeling, because none of his soldiers dared approached or even speak to him, simply going through their preparations for combat and triple checking their equipment as they launched into open space.

Even the pilot seemed to realize the danger that was brewing in his shuttle, and went full throttle into the atmosphere, eager to touch down as swiftly as possible and unload his passengers to the battlefield.

The landing zone was secured by the time they arrived regardless, at the outskirts of the city, but a good location for even more reinforcements to arrive. Fury stormed out, his mind already turning to how they would control the city as swiftly as possible. "I want snipers in those buildings," he ordered, gesturing at some tall apartment structures, "and marshal tanks through the main causeway. Zhar will not be able to withstand a direct assault."

The tactic was sound. Fury knew that they would need to expand slowly, and take control of the city piece by piece, working their way toward the palace. He expected Zhar to be doing much of the same, if he had not done so already. But the lack of soldiers on the Supreme Prophet's side would be his downfall.

"Fan out, and execute any loyalists to Zhar that you find!" he shouted, only to hear the massive explosion in response. Turning sharply, he watched as the towering building he had chosen for their snipers collapsed in a fiery wreck, crushing those soldiers he had sent to man it.

"But… how?" he started to ask aloud, when another shuddering blast heralded the destruction of their tank advance. It was as though Zhar had known beforehand that they would arrive at this exact spot, and every move that Fury would make since arriving in the system.

Snarling, he shouted, "I want every being in this city dead, now go!" storming off on his own after speaking, Fury took the most direct route to the palace. If every strategy he planned would end in failure due to the machinations of his rival and hated teacher, then Fury would use the most unorthodox plan possible.

"I'm coming for you Zhar," Fury seethed as he stalked through the streets, each saber hilt in his hand, and constantly checking around for ambushes.

He suspected that this too was part of the devastating plan that Zhar had prepared. What was it that the man had said as Fury approached through Hyperspace? Fury vaguely recollected that Zhar had mentioned already knowing that Fury would come…

Did that mean that the man had taken to foreseeing the future? Surely that was not the case. Outside of the Emperor himself Fury did not believe that any other Dark Adept could be strong enough to see the future with such accuracy.

And yet, here he was, every plan he started literally blowing up in his face. Unless he severed the head of the snake from the body, his forces were doomed. Grabbing the controls of a nearby speeder, Fury took off swiftly, heading toward one of the many landing platforms that circled the palace, where Veneficus once ruled their Empire out of.

Recalling those old days, when he had been a pathetic student of these insane teachers, Fury clenched his hands. His anger built in his veins, and through that he knew that his power would swell until he faced Zhar.

His advantage would only become apparent when he crossed sabers with his old master. And Fury could not wait for that happy moment when he could at last exact his revenge against the man who had forced him into this life.

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Filius felt nothing but supreme worry as their ship hurtled through Hyperspace. He had been rallying the last of their spare soldiers to reinforce the Coruscant attack when Severus had stormed up the ramp of his shuttle, carrying all manner of items and looking gravely at the Charms Master.

That fact alone, and that Severus wouldn't talk about why he had elected to join at the last minute, led Filius to believe that something very serious had happened at their destination, and he rushed to give out his orders and plot their course so that he could corner the Potions Master and pull the answers from him by any means necessary.

Severus had holed himself up in a side supply closet, transforming it into a potions lab, and was already furiously working on some concoction or another by the time Filius appeared. "Are you going to share what has you riled up so, or do I have to guess?" the Charms Master asked, feeling his worry shoot through the roof when Severus looked at him with a near-dead gaze.

"Ms. Granger demanded that I give her the formula for the poison I was developing," he said slowly, "and how to transform it into a gas to flood the planet with."

Filius' eye shot up. If that was in the atmosphere, no Mageborn would be able to set foot on the planet without a full body suit. "She took the special precautions right?" he asked, his blood freezing at Severus' downtrodden glance.

"I highly doubt that she did. She was always so headstrong, I'm surprised that she was in your house and not Gryffindor." The man said.

"So it's likely she had perished then," Filius affirmed.

"I've had no word since she contacted for it, and we know that the planet is under siege." The man replied.

"Then we will expect the worst…" Filius said, turning away. "I had better tell the men, they'll want to know."

"There's one more thing," Severus said, pulling a cloth wrapped object out of his robes as Filius faced him once more. The Charms Master recognized the Seer's Stone. "What have you seen?" he asked.

Severus did not even look ashamed to admit he had gone behind them all and peered into the dangerous object. "The _Terrasque_ is there, attacking Weasley's ship."

It was just another massive complication in a series of already bad news. Filius nodded, putting his mind toward how they could defeat such a vessel. "I want you on the bridge in an hour, so that we can determine how to destroy that monster of a ship."

"Understood," the Potions Master replied, turning back to his cauldron as Filius departed. Severus might be able to bottle his emotions with ease, but the Charms Master needed some time to grieve.

Slowly he returned to the bridge, nodding as the men saluted him. "I have news from Coruscant." He said slowly, drawing all the officers' attention. "We have it on a highly respected source that something prompted Director Granger to use a powerful toxin as a weapon, meant to kill Mageborn that inhale or come into contact with it. While I myself do not know the specifics, I know the Director would not use such a weapon unless the need was dire."

Muttering sprung up all around him, and Filius waited for it to die down before continuing, "It is very likely that the use of the poison has killed the Director as well, sacrificing herself to defeat whatever force they were facing, and I have no doubt that many lives were saved by such a sacrifice. I hope to be proven wrong on the subject, but we must operate under the impression that the Rebellion stands leaderless at this moment."

Every face was grave, and Filius nodded, "There is more," he said, "I know now the ship we face once we arrive in orbit on Coruscant. The Empire has sent their finest to defend the planet and crush us once and for all. The _Terrasque_ waits for us there."

Filius looked from face to face, "I know that our time seems dire, but we need to be strong. We have fought for so long to throw off the oppression of the Empire, and if we can destroy this one ship, as can send a powerful message to the rest that we are not to be underestimated."

"What are your orders, Commander?" Commodore Leehamm said, stepping forward. Every other being on the bridge had grown stern, steel in their eyes as they committed without words to this potential final fight for them.

"I want shields at double front when we arrive, weapons scanning for targets. Admiral Weasley is already there, fighting the ship, and I want us to be able to support him immediately upon arrival."

"I will forward the commands to the other ships," Leehamm acknowledged. "and send them the news."

"It is a dark time for the Rebellion," Filius admitted, "but I do believe that it is always darkest before the dawn. Things are changing, and whether it is to be our end, or the Empire's, I do not know as of yet."

Severus appeared, significantly earlier than Filius had asked, but the Dueling Champion was grateful for that. "Severus," he said, turning to face the pale man, "We shall use the Seer's Stone to find a way to destroy the _Terrasque_ , and hopefully cripple the fleets of the Empire."

Severus said nothing for a long moment, looking around at the grim faces of the officers, and stiffly nodded.

Filius understood the hesitation. He himself had been the one to caution Ms. Granger from using the Stone for any reason, but he felt now that they were in most dire straits. Even as Severus withdrew the milky orb from his robes, Filius felt a sense of foreboding at what they were about to commit to. Every officer on the bridge paused to glance at the powerful artifact, before returning to their work as Filius placed a hand over it.

"How do we stop the Imperial fleets and destroy the _Terrasque_?" Filius asked, and removed his hand, looking deeply into the stone as it started to glow. The information of a terrible plan seeped into his and Severus' minds. It would most assuredly work, but the cost would be just as great.

As the vision died away, both Professors and commanders exchanged a horrified glance before they schooled their emotions. "There is no other way," Filius admitted, unhappy at the outcome of what they had seen.

"But if the Galaxy is to have a chance to return to justice and order, then we have to do it." Severus affirmed.

"Many innocents will die because of it…" Filius complained.

"Imperial citizens, and their supporters, hardly innocent," the former Death Eater said. Filius knew that his friend was right, but he still held reservation at what they had to do.

"At least there is a bit of time to prepare, and give orders to those who will remain afterward." He said. Severus said nothing, but the Charms Master knew that the pale man agreed with his assessment of their dire plan.

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Veneficus frowned as he arrived in orbit over Dathomir. His scanners indicated that there was a furious amount of activity across the planet, and yet in the Force he could not locate his long-hated rival and foe. "Where are you?" he asked, trying to focus his vision and determine where Lovegood was hiding.

But there was nothing. She had vanished completely from his sight. "You can't have escaped the planet, I would know if you did…" Veneficus said to himself aloud. There was no choice. He had to land and locate her on foot, even if he had to traverse the entire planet to do so.

Choosing a location near to the ruins of the old academy, Veneficus sent the shuttle into an automated landing sequence, even as he rose and moved into the cargo section of the shuttle.

A U-shaped speeder waited there for him, although the problem would be steering it with a single hand. Drawing the Elder Wand, Veneficus thought of what he desired and waved it carefully over the stump. A glowing hand appeared, shimmering like quicksilver and perfectly responsive to his desired movements.

It would do until his body was effectively regenerated. The shuttle started to tremble as it passed through the atmosphere and started toward its landing site. Producing a cuff-tracker from the seat of the bike, Veneficus fixed it to his real hand's wrist, powering it on and checking the status of the probes that were contained in the speeder. All five were in perfect condition, and waiting for the command to eject and search according to his programmed pattern.

The lights in the bay dimmed and changed, even as the shuttle lightly touched down on Dathomir, and the cargo ramp lowered automatically. The Sith Lord mounted the bike, and slowly guided it down to the planet's surface, before activating each of the probes and sending them in all directions.

If they found sentient life they were to start projecting their location to him and track whatever they found. Meanwhile, Veneficus himself was going to head back to where he last had seen Lovegood, the clearing between the hidden vault of Gor-lak and the academy.

Taking off at high speed, Veneficus relished the rush of wind and full control of both limbs, despite the still missing hand. He couldn't feel what the limb now was touching, but he had a sense about it nonetheless.

The slightest twitch of his mind would cause the hand to react, and the speeder was sensitive enough to guide subconsciously as he threw his mind forward, trying to locate where the woman was hiding.

When he arrived in the clearing, he immediately knew that Lovegood was no longer here. The ground seemed frosty and devoid of life; even the grass had decayed. That was unusual.

Movement outside of the clearing caught his eyes, and Veneficus rose up, drawing a crimson saber just as a rotting corpse staggered out of the dying undergrowth, charging him and howling incoherently.

Necromancy… Veneficus confirmed that the creature indeed was a reanimated creature as he dodged backward from its decayed, claw-like fingers. Two quick slashes of the saber felled the corpse, but Veneficus was now away of significantly more figures approaching his location rapidly.

How Lovegood had discovered that terribly dark secret of magic, Veneficus did not know, but it did not bode well for him. Another trio of corpses lunged out, and the Sith Lord cut them all down with a single heavy slash. He had to move before he was overwhelmed.

Quickly he returned to the speeder and took off, ramming into a fifth body and breaking it apart as he tore into the foliage. Piloting with one hand, Veneficus grasped his saber deftly with the other, cutting down bodies as he passed by. They all seemed to be coming from a single location, and Veneficus turned his speeder toward the north, away from the vault and into the mountains proper.

He might have made great time in getting there, if there hadn't been a massive nest of rotting corpses waiting in ambush for him. The horde charged, and while Veneficus hacked away at them with his saber, the mangled zombies threw themselves at his speeder, knocking it off course, and getting sucked into the engine.

Leaping from the speeder before it exploded, Veneficus landed with a grunt and rolled, dodging the swiping claws of the horde, and rose to his feet.

"Now you've made it so much worse for yourself Lovegood…" he seethed, lightning crackling from his living hand. Rushing headlong into the horde, Veneficus spun heavily, swinging his saber in a close circle, lopping off limbs and heads as the undead lunged for him once more.

Lightning blasted through the skulls of others, shattering corroded helmets and melting armor. One of the undead puppets managed to entangle its fingers into the heavy weave of the Emperor's robes, and he twisted sharply, apparating away and taking the limb with him. Glancing at the offending arm still clinging to him, Veneficus noticed the hissing green energy wafting from the severed end.

"Ah, I see…" Veneficus said, understanding dawning on him. This was magic more than he had expected. And it proved a complication. It was likely that, as he had initially desired, Lovegood had finally broken and fell into darkness. Ironic though it was that now it was that light she was so powerful in that Veneficus needed.

But one did not escape their initial training so easily. Veneficus would find it in her, and seize it for himself. The drifting green energy would lead him back to Lovegood more than any flow of the undead, which would eventually stop coming at him when all the bodies were destroyed.

And so, he took off on foot, sprinting through the faded undergrowth, and cutting down only the undead that got in his immediate way.

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Lord Berethon could sense the impending doom that was coming. The fate of the Galaxy was hanging by their actions as soon as the fleet arrived at Coruscant. Sitting in his repuslorchair on the bridge of one of the smaller cruisers, Berethon watched the last minutes of Hyperspace rush past them before they were due to emerge at their destination.

Commander Flitwick had half-heartedly tried to prevent them from coming, but Berethon would have none of it. "If this is to be our end, then the Jedi will be there!" he had said defiantly, and the Mage-born had smiled and sighed, replying that he should have known better.

The entire remnant of the Jedi Order was present therefore, barring a handful of Masters and Knights guarding their younglings and younger Padawans. They were spread between all ships, offering what aid they could to the commanders and soldiers, representing the hope of the Galaxy.

"All ships, prepare for battle, exiting Hyperspace in two minutes." the order of Commander Flitwick were broadcast through the ship, and Berethon felt the tension on the bridge tighten. Through the Force, Berethon exuded the peace of the Light, comforting those who feared for their lives, and reassuring those who doubted the need of their purpose.

If they struck this blow, and defeated the heart of the Imperial Navy, they would secure a powerful footing back in the Galaxy, and rally the rest of the former Republic to throw off the chains of the Empire forever.

"Exiting Hyperspace, Admiral," an officer declared after the minutes passed, and in a flash the stars slowed back to their normal places.

The gargantuan ship of the _Terrasque_ appeared before them, heavily engaged with the _Pursuit of Justice_. The smaller ship was clearly taking a beating from the massive vessel, but was giving almost as much as it took.

The problem was, now that more targets had appeared, the _Terrasque_ started to turn toward them, and from the belly of the monster a massive green glow was starting to form.

"It's targeting Commander Flitwick's ship with the planet cracker!" an officer shouted in horror.

Berethon knew that the devastating weapon, whose real name the Rebellion had never discovered, was completely unblockable, and would annihilate anything it came into contact with. The same weapon had been used only a handful of times in the course of the war, most notably to completely destroy the planet of New Terra, in a show of the Emperor's absolute martial power before the Republic Senate.

There was nothing that they could do, and Berethon felt despair start to overshadow them as the ship lined up its attack.

There was a flash of light, and the beam shot outward, screaming through space toward the lead ship of the Rebellion's reinforcements. Another flash, and a smoking wreck was left in space where the beam struck, but it was not one of their number.

Somehow, miraculously, the stolen Imperial craft had shifted in space, and intercepted the beam itself, sacrificing the warship and everyone aboard in order to protect the reinforcements.

Everyone on the bridge was stunned, but in moments Commander Flitwick's voice drummed over the interfleet communication channel, "All units, attack! Shuttles, funnel all troops down to the surface. Do not let their sacrifice be in vain!"

Berethon nodded, even as the officers rushed about their work, rallied from their stupor by their leader. "Commander, we are taking to the field," the Jedi Lord declared, and he turned to make his way to the hangar, and a shuttle waiting for him and the Jedi that were onboard.

They had a temple to liberate, and a planet to save.

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Severus couldn't believe what had just happened.

As though it had known that they were coming, the massive Imperial ship had turned, charging its most devastating weapon in order to obliterate them down to atomic matter. And then, just as swiftly as the ship actually fired, the _Pursuit of Justice_ materialized in the path of the deadly beam.

Their ship had been in communication with Admiral Weasley as they arrived, and the view inside the command structure had been just as puzzling and unbelievable. The man had been welcoming them, stating the nature of the skirmish, and that all those on the planet were holed up in the Jedi Temple, when the event started.

Weasley had shouted for some special devise to be activated, and bid them farewell, as though he already knew exactly what was about to happen. Filius had been just as shocked, but recovered quicker and started initializing their final orders. Flooding the planet with ground forces and spreading out their small fleet to prevent the massive capital ship from going after more than one of them at a time with their superweapons.

Once that was accomplished, the Charms Master glanced at Severus, and nodded. It was time for their reckless and downright insane strategy. Severus sighed. He wanted nothing to do with this, but the vision in the stone was quite clear. And without any suitable plan otherwise, they had little choice but to believe and follow the madness that the stone had directed them toward.

The ship they were on charged the _Terrasque_ , flying low under its belly to prevent any of its stronger weapons from striking them. Deflectors were diverted to layer over the top of them, and they pulled dangerously close to the enemy's hull.

Together, the two wizards closed their eyes, straining to see the same image that the stone had showed them, of a deserted corridor in the massive ship, and turned on their heels. There was a burst of awful freezing, before it passed, and they appeared, collapsed in the corridor shivering.

Severus quickly drew his wand, layering heating charms over them to stave off the cold of space. Filius also leapt to his feet, wand in hand and a determined look in his normally cheerful eyes.

"We'll need to move swiftly to take the bridge," he said, looking to their left, the direction that they had seen the bridge to be located in.

"Understood," Severus replied, and together the two elderly wizards made their way swiftly through the sterile corridors, deftly stunning and otherwise incapacitating every imperial they encountered.

Killing them would have served better, but they needed speed and stealth for this portion to succeed, and they had learned over their long campaign that there was life support chip implanted into many of the frontline troopers, which would notify the entire ship instantly if they perished.

Too many of those, and it would be clear that they had been boarded. They spiraled through the corridors, quickly finding a lift. After 'procuring' a key card from an officer nearby, the pair of wizard started their ascent to the command level of the ship.

The stone had already revealed that this would be the hardest part of their struggle. The Emperor had put somebeing in charge of the ship that was devastatingly loyal to him, and a Force user as well. They would have to fight this being directly, while at the same time clearing out the bridge and commandeering the vessel and its systems.

Luckily, Filius had prepared for this, and had a computer spike loaded with Ms. Granger's domination virus, which would automate the hacking needed to take over the ship itself, and make controlling it significantly simpler. He would insert it into the main console while Severus distracted the Dark Adept, and then focus him down while the virus did its work.

Wands out and spells at the forefront of their minds, Severus and Filius waited for the lift to stop and the doors to open. The armored troopers on the other side were the first to turn, and a pair of powerful blasting curses sent them flying into the far walls.

The entire bridge was alerted to their presence. "Keep working," a cloaked figured hissed from the center, "I will deal with these intruders. Pursue their fleet and destroy them."

Severus and Filius spread from each other, making sure that the unknown Force user couldn't attack both at once.

The figure cast his hood and robe aside, revealing the red skin and facial tentacles of a Pureblood Sith. Gleaming around his neck was a powerful metal collar, the device compelling his devotion to the Emperor. "I will destroy you both, and earn my freedom from the Emperor…" the figure said, smirking as he drew a double-ended lightsaber.

Severus initiated the fight, throwing a pair of dark curses and dodging backward. The adept predictably focused on him therefore, and slapped both spells aside and charged.

Filius took off around the edge of the bridge, stunning and disabling the officers as quickly as he could, while Severus used apparition, shields, and his repertoire of dark spells to hamper the advance of the powerful Force user.

He was well aware that there wouldn't be any clear opening to strike down the figure, as he was more than schooled in the methodology and tactics that Mage-born used when they dueled. Severus was only partially worried. While doubtlessly trained by the Emperor, this being couldn't be prepared for every tactic that two master duelist could think of with their spells.

Filius had clearly only a third of the room when the brute noticed what was going on. With a roar of anger, he attempted to leap through the air at the Charms Master, but Severus wouldn't permit it. A carefully place shield hammered the Pureblood in the face, when several blasting curses flew from Severus' wand.

He was glad that the inside of the bridge seemed to be warded against spells, or else the missed and reflected spells might have torn a hole in the hull and exposed them all to the vacuum of space. Nevertheless, one of his spells struck true, and hit the Dark Adpet, sending the being flying backward.

Granted, it certain did not put the red-skinned fugyre down, and he rose swiftly. Despite painful looking burns on his face and arms, the saber wielding foe started after Severus once more, carving through anything in his path.

Severus made use of the blind rage, and led the killing machine through the ranks of his own officers, making the uniformed beings run for cover or else be cut down by their own leader.

Filius, meanwhile, went for the primary console. Out of the corner of his eye, Severus spotted him thrust in the security spike, and turn to face their duel, his wand crackling with power.

Severus smirked. The odds had just turned in their favor. They just had to keep the mad creature away from the console long enough for full control of the ship to fall to that one console, and then sabotage everything they could.

As the creature lunged for them both, Severus realized that this would be easier said than done.

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Diábolis sensed his master on the surface of Dathomir, fluctuating and darkening as the man carved through an unknown army that was on the surface. Whatever the Sith was facing, Diábolis did not want to waste time fighting himself, and therefore was tracking his master to whatever destination he was surging toward.

It seemed that there was something in the nearby mountains, where the horde of beings was pouring from, but the Sith apprentice wanted to wait until he was certain it was safe for him to go and confront his master, as well as whatever powerful entity was facing off against Veneficus.

What he did not expect, was his communication device on the shuttle to suddenly spring to life. Static and unknown sounds filled the cockpit, and Diábolis flinched at the burst of sound.

And yet, in the midst of the unknown noise, the Sith could swear that a voice was trying to make it through the devise to him. Attempts to refine the signal went poorly, as it seemed a strange multi-toned voice trying to get through.

Diábolis had the impression that the problem did not lay with the mechanical equipment, but rather something less material. Through the Force, it was as if something was reaching clawed hands around the ship, trying to draw him toward the planet.

The moment he sensed that, the message changed drastically, becoming significantly clearer and intelligible. " _If you want to see Veneficus defeated, you will bring the Scepter of Ragnos to me_..." was the message, followed by a string of coordinates.

Diábolis did not know who the voice belonged to, nor did he particularly feel that it would make sense to trust something so clearly devious. But for an easy opportunity to get close to is former master, and finish the deed that he set out upon so long ago, he would gladly betray the strange, dark presence on the planet.

Turning the shuttle toward the coordinates he was given, Diábolis could tell that it was the same destination that Veneficus was slowly working his way toward. If he could skip past all of the madness with the strange army moving against the Sith Lord, he could lay in wait to assassinate Veneficus.

Glancing back at the rear of the cockpit, Diábolis studied the gleaming silver scepter that was the ancient artifact crafted by Marka Ragnos. The Devaronian knew the power that the tool held, and wondered what it would provide if he turned its power against Veneficus.

There was the threat of what the mysterious voice wanted with it, but he would deal with that problem when it became mandatory. Defeating his former master was the prime directive for him. Anything else was secondary until the madman lay dead at his feet.

Pulling his shuttle to land at the exact coordinates he was told, Diábolis gathered what he felt he might need and departed. The air was thick and oppressive outside the shuttle. Before the Devaronian was a gaping cavern, leading deep into the mountains. Diábolis felt drawn to that cave, and the wispy green energy flowing through the air hinted at the danger that waited for him inside, but he refused to give heed to that hesitation.

The darkness swallowed him, but the green magical energy grave him a direction to go, leading through winding possessed and into a grand chamber deep in the mountain.

"So, you came…" a voice said, echoing deeply despite its fair nature.

A figured turned toward him, clad in flowing crimson. The skull-like face was rather intimidating to behold, appearing like the warlike paint of some savage tribe.

"I am Mother Talzin…" the figure introduced herself, the echo indicating her great power of darkness. "And you will behold the end of Darth Veneficus, and my rise to power!"

Diábolis narrowed his eyes at the strange abomination before him. Aspects were familiar, but mixed between some manner of dark ability, and the Force was warped around her as she moved. All in all, it formed a quite disturbing sight.

"You've brought what I asked for?" the witch asked, her eyes glancing greedily at the Scepter in Diábolis' hand.

"I have, but I want to know your intentions with it before I simply hand it over," Diábolis countered.

"Of course…" the woman hissed, sending cold shivers down the Devaronian's spine as she spoke, "I intend to use its great power to ensnare and destroy Veneficus utterly, banishing his spirit to the netherworld of your Force, and siphoning his power into myself. The perfect revenge for everyone…" she laughed, the booming echo ringing around the cavern.

Diábolis had the information he needed. The woman was focused on revenge, much as he himself. Whatever plans she had for after were not yet completely formed. He would be able to slip away once the deed was done, leave her abandoned on this world, and reestablish the blockade here.

A prisoner to his master she had been, and would remain such for the reign of Diábolis.

"I see no problem with this arrangement then," he said, offering the powerful artifact to the woman. The scepter lifted out of his hand and flew across the room to the witch, who gleefully clasped it, relishing the power that it possessed.

Diábolis casually brushed the hilt of the Sith Sword at his waist, sensing that this being before his was stronger than she appeared.

"He comes…" the witch said, turning toward the opposite side of the cavern.

Diábolis turned, hearing the swinging of a lightsaber and the unearthly howls of creatures pursuing. Veneficus appeared, disheveled and very much angered, sabers activated and brandished against the pair of them.

Diábolis noticed that the man had replaced his severed hand with a magical construct, but had as of yet done anything regarding the missing eye. "It took you long enough, my old Master," the Devaronian sneered, smirking as Veneficus bristled.

"Lord Veneficus, we meet again after so long." Talzin said, stepping forward gingerly, the scepter in both hands warding off any potential attack.

"Lovegood…" Veneficus sneered, "I wouldn't have thought you'd fall so far so quickly…"

"Nothing you didn't want to have happen, I assure you…" Talzin smirked in reply.


	34. C33: An End to Every Beginning…

**Chapter Thirty Three**

 **An End to Every Beginning…**

Mother Talzin could suppress the joy she felt, staring down her enemy, even as the Sith Lord judged her hastily in his foolish superiority. Even the apprentice thought himself better than her and her magics. She would show them all, she was above their power, and would prove that their Force was nothing but a grasp at the full flames of darkness.

"You thought to come and use me to restore your failing body," she said, accurately predicting the Sith Lord's desire for coming to her. She had known, through her divinations of his coming, and his need.

"You are far too late for that; however," she breathed, watching the rage fill his soul, "my power is absolute here, and my darkness will spread to all corners of the Galaxy. You should know that though, you created me thusly."

"Whatever light is left inside you, I will tear out by force if I must!" Veneficus seethed, clutching his weapons tighter, "my reign is absolute, and eternal, I will strike you both down a return to the rest of my empire."

"Your empire is in ruins," Diábolis threw back at the human Sith, "it crumbles due to infighting and the rebellion you so thoroughly ignored in your misguided quest for immortality."

"Then I will raise up another, and take control of everything that I need." Veneficus spat in return.

"You may try," Diábolis said, drawing a Force Sword from his waist. Talzin smirked. Their weapons and their fresh strength were far greater than the Emperor, without his tricks and power in the Force. Together they could actually beat him, but how long their alliance would last was yet to be seen.

"You've underestimated me for the last time!" Veneficus said sharply, leaping forward.

With her knowledge of the combat style of the Sith, Mother Talzin dodged to the left, swinging the staff of Ragnos and deflected a redirected strike to her back. The pair of Sith Lords engaged head on, their power over the Dark Side of the Force welling up and seeming like twin titans clashing in the realm of the Force.

Weaving her magic around her, Talzin crafted a bubble of energy to deflect any oncoming attacks from Veneficus. She had already foreseen that lightning would be heavily used by all of them, and she planned to throw the first bolt.

Green lightning crackled in her hands, spilling forth in a pair of devastating beams, charring the ground of the cave toward her intended target, locked in a saber clash with his former apprentice.

Veneficus snarled as he saw it coming, and pushed off, dodging the rapidly advancing wave of lightning, and retaliated with a flurry of blue-white bolts of his own. The points of pure hatred were harmlessly absorbed by Talzin's shield, and the Witch Mother laughed at the desperate nature of the bolts.

"Your power is no match against my magics!" she taunted, brandishing the scepter before her, and allowing her connection to the ancient spirits of Dathomir course through it.

"Your magic is an illusion compared to my power," Veneficus snarled, kicking off his apprentice and leaping toward her, swiping heavily with both sabers.

Talzin raised the scepter, blocking both strikes, and began her chants, willing magic to course through her and enter the Sith Lord. Calling upon her ancient wizarding training, as well as the ancient secrets of the Orks, Talzin dematerialized in a burst of emerald fire, teleporting a short distance away to the center of the chamber. "Your doom is nigh, old fool," she said, slamming the base end of the scepter into the ground, transforming it into a font of magical power.

Green energy erupted from the spiked head of the staff like a gas, flooding the roof of the caves, empowering Talzin and refining her abilities. Conjuring a sword of emerald flames in her hand, she knew that victory was hers at last.

All that was needed was to wait for the magic to collect and overwhelm the Sith Lords, and to that end she charged in, leaping at Veneficus to attack. Diábolis struck from behind the Emperor, and forced the madman to split his attention.

"Enough!" Veneficus roared, using his power over the Force to simple throw both his attackers from him. "I have waited too long for this moment, and no amount of resistance will prevent me from achieving my destiny!" he shouted, stalking toward Talzin.

She knew what he intended, and welcomed it as he drew her toward him with an iron grip of Force power.

"Your knowledge and light affinity will restore me, whether you are willing or not!" he shouted, gathering power in the Dark Side to expel his own soul into Talzin. The wispy green energy leaked from his eyes and entered the Witch Mother, even as the body of the Emperor crumpled before her.

Pain; pain and agony such as she had never experienced blossomed into being inside her. The Sith Lord was relentless in his search through her very being for what he sought, but Talzin simply laughed, chanting her spell. The gas around them, her magic waylaid and stored outside of her, flooded back into Talzin in a rush, giving her the strength required to overwhelm the will of the Emperor, trapping the man's spirit inside her.

"You fool! You fool!" she gleefully cackled, "I have your power now, and you will grant me all the knowledge that you contained from the old ways, before you cease to exist!"

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Filius pressed the attack against the Sith Pureblood, forcing the Dark Adept away from the precious console that they were hacking. Severus may have his dark curses and former Death Eater training to fall back on, but Filius was a master duelist for several years running, and knew tricks and skills to distract and lead his opponents on many a merry goose chase.

Conjuring walls and other barriers to impede the Dark Adept as he tried to attack them, Filius circled around, trying to find a point to flank the being, but he was doggedly pressing through whatever obstacle was thrown at him.

"Enough of this madness," Severus grunted, thrusting his wand forward, and blasting the dark adept into the door. Filius quickly followed up the spell by animating the metal of the door to wrap around the Force user, binding him in place and sealing the bridge at the same time.

The console chimed at them as soon as the relaxed. The Dark Adept struggled feebly in the grasp of the warped metal. "Well, at least that will prevent more from showing up to distract us…" Severus said, even as the pair of wizards focused on the hacked console.

Filius, the most experiences with technological things of the two, quickly typed out commands to see what systems that had taken control of, and widened his eyes.

"Veneficus seemed to have been completely paranoid of anyone else under his command," Severus said, looking over Filius' shoulder.

There were commands to override systems and destroy every other ship in the Imperial fleet. "It would certainly make dealing with traitors simple, if he so chose to use this," Filius agreed.

"So we can cripple and annihilate every Imperial Vessel in the Galaxy with this," Severus breathed, realizing the magnitude of what they had found.

"To instantly kill so many…" Filius breathed, fearful of the insane power that had been at the Emperor's fingertips at all times.

"Again, those who are fanatically loyal to that madman are less than innocent," Severus snarled, reaching over and plugging in some targeted commands himself. As if confirming what they suspected about these hideous commands, the derelict imperial cruiser, which the rebels had used to come to Coruscant in secret instantly started to self-destruct.

"That proves it," Severus said, looking between his commands in the console and the ruptured ship, "now that we can eliminate the Empire's fleets, the Rebellion will gain control of the starlanes, and the individual systems can throw off their garrisons without fear of Imperial reprisal." Severus said, smirking.

Filius quickly looked through what other systems they had control of, and curiously found that they had control only ninety percent of the ship, but several key weapons were not among the list.

"We don't have control of the devastator ray," he said to Severus, concerned.

A surge of power behind them caused both wizards to turn. The Dark Adept they had imprisoned had regained consciousness, and was rapidly breaking out of the folded metal.

"We need to issue the self-destruct commands to the entire Imperial Fleet, and then find a way to destroy this ship as well," Severus said, taking command of the console and typing away rapidly. Filius kept his wand trained on the escaping prisoner, but before he could strike to put him under again, several charges from the far side of the door exploded, sending the being and chunks of metal flying into the room.

Armored troopers appeared on the other side, firing their weapons into the bridge as they stormed in. Filius had a shield up in a heartbeat, blocking the projectiles, and began returning fire with his wand.

Severus assisted where he could, but his focus was primarily on the console, even as the ship started to lurch of its own accord. "Someone else is taking control of the weapons and targeting systems," he shouted over the din of blasterfire, "They're targeting the planet for the devastator beam!"

Filius thought hard. They needed a way to prevent whoever was trying to wrest control back from attacking their allies. The Dark Adept was rising to his feet again, shaking his head groggily as he regained total consciousness. They would be outflanked soon.

"There!" Severus shouted, stepping away from the console, "I've started the chain reaction. The Imperial fleets will all self-destruct over a matter of time, as soon as the signals reach them from this ship."

Filius nodded, pegging another trooper with a powerful hex, knocking the armored being to the ground. He flinched when he heard the telltale snap hiss of a lightsaber, and flung himself to the side as the Dark Adept rejoined the fray.

"We've got to find a way to destroy this ship, and fast," he said swiftly. But even as he said it, the thoughts revolving through his mind were focused on how he had expected such a plan to go afoul. Since they started using the Seer Stone, Filius had feared that something this dire would happen, and they were seeing the proof of that worry even now.

"Jump to Hyperspace directly into a sun, or a black hole," Severus said, going for the console again to plot their suicidal course. The Dark Adept was not about to allow them anymore access to the ship; however, and hurled his double weapon like a javelin at Severus' heart.

"No!" Filius shouted, tackling the Potions Master out of the way, and feeling the burning plasma enter his own body instead.

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Veneficus knew nothing but pain. His consciousness had been forcefully repressed by the Wild Force energy that flowed so freely through Lovegood's body. She was leeching off of his mighty spirit, stealing information and knowledge from him about the magical history and arcane secrets of their former people.

In the attempt, she was trying to crush his sentience from existence, but the Sith Lord would not allow it. He glimpsed what he desired, the tiny core of Light Side energy that still lingered in the woman's form, incorruptible even from the depths of darkness she had fallen into in her madness.

Closing himself around that bundle of Light energy, Veneficus felt the devastating effects of this creature, Talzin, lessen, and his own strength started to reform. Taking the small metaphysical globe of Light with him, he forcefully broke free of her mind and her body, soaring through the open air back to his crumpled form.

Veneficus' eye snapped open, and despite the lethargy that overcame him, his veins burned with newfound strength and fire. The tiny core of Light Side energy would be consumed quickly to heal himself, but it would be a worthy boon in order to have the strength to crush his two greatest foes underfoot.

Blearily, his lost orb rejuvenated itself, and the silvery, magical hand disappeared as a new flesh one grew in its place. "I am reborn, regardless of your desire and theft," Veneficus said, smirking as he rose to his feet, healthy and strong once more.

The Dark Side radiating off of the Sith Emperor, finally free to be unleashed once again without the side effects of destroying his physical form. These two would at last pay for their treachery and pride.

With lightning speed, Veneficus flipped backwards, his sabers clashing with the hastily raised defenses of Diábolis. Veneficus snarled at his former apprentice, leveling his entire strength into the saber lock, and trying to force the Devaronian off balance.

Then, in a move of pure whim, he altered trajectory, and threw his arms upward, dragging all their weapons up and opening his apprentice's torso to a deft kick to the ribs, sending the younger being skidding backward, with the addition of a few light burns from the crimson blades.

The younger Sith had been fast enough to keep his own hands, but Veneficus would deal with him in time. A blast of green lightning caught his attention, and Veneficus caught the powerful beams of electricity on his weapons, absorbing them harmlessly as he leapt to the side.

Talzin was not going to give up, now that she had the secrets of the forgotten Dark Arts in her, and no core of Light to subdue her desire for revenge. At the same time, Veneficus was sure that her attacks would become sloppy and uncontrolled, without the modicum of patience guiding her attacks and preventing her from frustration.

Unfortunately, that blasted green protective shield around her would make getting at her very difficult. Diábolis leapt at him once more, and Veneficus dodged, his powers over foresight returning little by little. He understood that without the spirits of the ancient Sith strengthening him, he would not be the same juggernaut of power that he once was, but he had strength enough for this fight.

Flipping backward as his former apprentice swung the Sith Sword at him, Veneficus threw one of his sabers at the Devaronian, using the distraction in order to reach out and grab the younger Sith by the throat with the Force.

"You are not my equal," Veneficus hissed, his saber returning to float around him like an orbiting moon, "and I reject your claim on my throne!"

Hurling Diábolis away, Veneficus grasped the waiting saber hilt and charged at his more pressing enemy. Talzin was aiming the scepter of Ragnos at him, and Veneficus was fully aware of the devastation the powerful artifact could cause.

But he had wasted too much time casting his apprentice aside, and the Witch was releasing energy that had been stored for many years in the scepter, the orange crackle of raw Force power flaring out in a destructive beam. It carved a massive trench in the stone floor, and forced Veneficus to dodge, rolling hard across the floor to avoid the uncontrollable beam.

Talzin deactivated it, and conjured a flaming sword in her other hand, advancing on the Sith Lord even as Diábolis roused himself and rose to his feet.

Veneficus was growing frustrated. He once commanded the power to simply crush this entire mountain with his will alone, but because of the treachery of his apprentice, things could not be that simple anymore.

All three combatants locked weapons, Veneficus split between holding back Talzin and his former apprentice. He knew that if they continued to work together to defeat him, they stood a decent chance of actually winning. Therefore he had no choice but to separate them, eliminate Talzin, and then finish off Diábolis.

Throwing their weapons off of his own, Veneficus grabbed the red clad woman by the arm, forcefully transporting them to a location of his choosing, well away from the cave network and his former apprentice. Talzin struggled to resist, but Veneficus' surprise attack with their mutual heritage magic was quick enough to transport them before she threw him off.

"You'll regret this decision," Talzin said hotly, the Scepter crackling with its near limitless power. Veneficus had to separate the witch from the artifact, and then he would be free to slay her at long last.

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Severus saw Filius throw himself at him, heard the sizzling sound of lightsaber on flesh, and felt the shift in the air as an old friend expired. He was alone, deep in the heart of his enemy's ship, with nothing and no one to protect. He rose steadily, oddly cold and collected.

He was the last; the last Mage-born alive, the last remnant of their once remarkable people.

The Dark Adept smirked as he started to summon back his weapon with the Force.

" _Accio_ …" Severus intoned, his voice far away. The hilt shuddered as it locked in a battle of wills, one of the Cosmic force, the other of the Wild. Severus held the weapon at bay, preventing its owner from seizing hold of it so easily.

"Old fool…" the adept hissed, "Your magic is nothing compared to the power of the Dark Side. The Emperor has trained me well. I will succeed him, and rise above all my former rivals. You will be honored as the first great victory of Isrishza, the scion of the Sith race and apprentice of the darkest Sith Emperor to live."

"Young fool…" Severus replied, throwing the insult right back in the adept's face. "You honestly think that Veneficus cares for an instant about you, or anyone other than himself? He is a madman who threw away his own world for power. Robbed countless innocents of their lives, and will destroy everything in the Galaxy if it means adding one minute to his already prolonged life…"

"We shall see…" the adept said, still high off the killing of Filius. Severus narrowed his eyes, willing his magic to aid him.

" _Repulso_ ," he said, instantly reversing the direction of his force on the saber, and with a deft flick, activating the switch that powered the deadly crimson weapon.

Isrishza flinched as it struck him, the searing plasma blade entering his chest without resistance. Before the device shut itself off and clattered to the ground. "Now, lay there and die, while I go about tearing apart your Emperor's precious fleets," Severus said coldly, turning back to the console, which was still well on the way sending out the self-destruction commands to the scattered Imperial ships throughout the Galaxy.

Copying the commands and sending them elsewhere would be a simple task, and Severus knew that the main base on Hoth would be more than capable of continuing the work. The transmission of the command, as well as the long list of ships that the _Terrasque_ had control over was large, but he was sure that it would reach _Sanctuary_ without delay.

It was set to automatically recommence the process once it was fully downloaded there, which allowed Severus to concern himself with this ship. Whomever was trying to wrest control back had succeeded in turning the _Terrasque_ to face the planet, and was working furiously to recharge and arm the devastator beam once more, but Severus had far more control over steering than the unknown engineer trying to destroy all those on the capital world.

Plotting a Hyperspace jump was simple, lining up something to collide with at the same time took a little longer. Severus was certain that troopers would come to try and stop him, and therefore once he set the ship into auto-navigation to its intended jump point, he faced the blasted hole where a door once stood, waiting for the resistance that would come.

The first to round the corner was struck dead in an instant. The rush of casting the killing curse was something that Severus had not felt in a long time, but he was allowing his rage to guide him at this point. The same emotions that fueled him as a Death Eater spy now ran rampant.

The next troopers were smarter than the first: riot shields and an aggressive use of grenades. Severus was forced to put up a shield to block the shrapnel and follow-up blaster bolts. Severus was actually somewhat impressed. Despite not being able to actually harm him, the troopers were keeping him pinned down against the console he was defending, unable to retaliate or otherwise halt the flow of more troopers.

Still, the impasse would work in his favor in the end, as soon as the ship aligned itself for the jump into the nearest star. Or so he thought, until the console flashed red and stalled out its preparations for the jump. Glancing at the screen, Severus swore. Whoever was trying to counter hack the virus was gaining ground and countermanded the navigation controls that he had implanted to the Nav computer.

Luckily, the hacker couldn't wipe the coordinates and totally undo everything that Severus had started, but he had forced a flaw into the logic of the system, which required an override on Severus' end.

The struggle was that in order to override it properly, Severus had to pull two levers on either end of the console simultaneously. That would require him to stow his wand and lower the protective shield keeping him from being torn apart by blasterfire. Looking back at the faceless soldiers, mindlessly trying to stop him, Severus felt the same rush of vindictive anger.

He had nothing left to live for. The same deadening emotion that took him when Lily Evans had died so long ago returned, which had caused him to throw himself at Dumbledore, hoping that the old man would end him, and instead being placed on this damning path that caused so much agony throughout a Galaxy of sentient beings.

But now, he would stop all of it. He would forever cripple the space faring power of the psychopathic Emperor, and destroy this titanic ship. Throwing his wand aside, Severus spun and grabbed both levers.

The first blaster shot hit him in the shoulder, almost throwing him forward, but Severus stood his ground and pulled for all he was worth.

The last thing he saw was the stars blurring around them, before another shot slammed into him, and everything ended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zhar sensed the moment that Fury entered his chamber, high in the former Imperial Palace of Dramund Kaas.

All around the city was burning, building rigged to detonate by Euka crumbling and crushing many of the Marauder's forces, and scattering what populace remained.

"You're later than I expected…" Zhar commented, not rising or even opening his eyes from his meditation, "I suppose the loss of power on the fifth floor hindered your use of the lift to get up here…"

"How?" Fury said, before stopping himself, "It doesn't matter what you've seen, there is only one way that this will end."

The snap hiss of the warrior's sabers was as predictable as Zhar thought it might be.

"Always one for action, even if it was futile and purposeless," he commented, slowly rising to his feet and drawing his own weapon. "I had such high hopes for you so long ago, but you've utterly failed every aspect that I had thought of to help you in your life. It's rather ironic that you managed to survive long enough for me to be the one to end you."

Fury snarled, and charged like a maddened animal. Zhar did not even activate his own weapon as he spun out of the path of the flashing crimson sabers, narrowly avoiding the direct rush. "You honestly think that I haven't been preparing for your arrival since I foresaw it?" Zhar commented, rising a single hand, "Fool…"

Lightning blasted out from his extended fingertips. Fury tried to move his sabers to block the bolts, but Zhar was not aiming for the man's body or head. The electric current flowed into the mechanical hand of the Marauder, overloading and disabling the powerful limb, transforming it into a useless weight on the side of Fury.

"That may even the playing field," Zhar said, smirking as he activated his own weapon. Roaring with rage, Fury charged again, and Zhar shifted into his tradition Djem-So counterattacks. The cuts and hacks were effectively blocked and repurposed between the pair of them, and Zhar had to admit that even with the loss of one arm, Fury had grown in his saber skills, and was a force to be reckoned with in martial combat.

Luckily, there were many more aspects of being a Dark Adept than just skill with the lightsaber. Zhar maneuvered them precisely, angling the back of Fury to a wide window of the palace, which he had already foreseen would take damage due to the battle.

And he was not disappointed. Within moments the glass shattered, exploding inward and showering over Fury, thoroughly distracting the Marauder and permitting Zhar to charge in. planting his boot on Fury's chest, the Supreme Prophet relished the sense of terror as he shoved hard. Fury sailed backward, only barely stopping before the open section of the Palace structure, and teetering on the precipice.

Pressing hard with the heavy-handed swings of his form, Zhar battled with his one-time apprentice on the edge, trading blows and weaving on the spot to dodge the more gregarious swings from Fury. Out in the city, Zhar could sense that Euka was gleeful in her destruction of the army, as well as Jol, recently sneaking down from space to join the melee in the city.

"Your army is lost," Zhar said, forcing Fury to listen, "And the destruction of the Imperial Fleet is nigh, why consume yourself with this madness. We could join forces once more and survive this dark time, find a peaceful existence here on Dromund Kaas, and be forgotten by the rest of the Galaxy!"

"I don't believe you!" Fury sneered, "I will triumph, and return gloriously to the Empire! We will crush the rebels and rule the Galaxy forever!"

Just then, high in orbit over the planet, the cruisers that had carried Fury and his forces here suddenly self-destructed, showering the outlying jungles with scrap and wreckage from their hulls.

"You were saying?" Zhar asked, keeping himself on the defensive, for when his first apprentice flew back into a rage. "That was the chief standing order of the _Terrasque_. In order to maintain supreme control over the fleet, Veneficus had every ship rigged to explode at a moment's notice, and held the passcodes and commands to himself. He was always willing to throw anyone aside that outlived their usefulness. And it is that paranoia that has led to the downfall of his Empire."

Fury sneered back, his saber aloft. "The Empire is done for." Zhar affirmed, "The Republic will return, and a new golden age of rebirth will begin. There is no stopping what is to come…"

Fury roared in rage, swinging wildly. Zhar had hoped to avoid this fate, but it was not to be. He blocked, locking sabers with the maddened man turned beast, and shoved hard. Fury teetered, and lost his balance, tumbling over the edge of the shattered window.

The saber went flying, and the man was clinging desperately to the ledge just below, with nothing to prevent a steep and deadly fall to the ground far below. "I tried to save you, you know," Zhar said calmly, pointing his blade at the man's wrist, the only thing keeping him alive, "So long ago I did what I could to strengthen you for what was to come. But you allowed yourself to be consumed by hatred and a petty need for revenge. This is what weakened you, blinded you to the greater aspects of the Force. You handicapped yourself long before I took your arm."

"I hate you!" Fury raged, lashing out uncontrollably in his final moments.

"I cared for you, after my own fashion," Zhar retorted, "I wanted to spare you the horrors I had faced in my path down the Dark Side, but you wouldn't have it, and now the journey ends. Goodbye, my old apprentice…"

Zhar stabbed deftly, severing the hand at the wrist. Fury screamed as he fell the long distance, only to be swiftly cut off by a sickening crunch as he met the stone ground in front of the temple. The Supreme Prophet looked down forlornly, recollection of his apprentice and their early years together. So long had Fury been consumed by the silent animosity that Zhar had tried to remove from the young man, only for it to swell and focus solely on the older Force user.

"Such a waste…" he commented, deactivating his blade and turning away.

Now they, the new trio that formed the core of the Prophets of the Dark Side, had to focus on how they would survive the coming calm that followed the breaking of the storm. Veneficus' reign was coming to a swift and devastating close, and those left behind would be utterly at a loss on how to proceed.

Zhar knew that there would be countless Dark Adepts scattered throughout the Galaxy, without anywhere to turn or anything to give them purpose. He could not allow them all to run rampant and destroy the Galaxy in their driven passion, directionless and without meaning.

The communication system for the Empire may be gone, thanks to their actions, but Dromund Kaas still had a powerful broadcasting station, able to send out signals on secure, and secret, channels that only those with the right knowledge would find.

They would recalibrate the signal to summon as many Dark Adepts as would heed it back to Dromund Kaas, and reform the Prophets properly, as a means to survive whatever the Galaxy threw at them.

Through the power of their foresight, they would hide from the Jedi, and seek out and destroy the Sith wherever they could find them. Zhar would become the harbinger of the end for all those that would threaten the Galaxy as a whole.

He could sense that his people would need much in the way of training, and once the Sith Lords went to ground again, to hide their presence from the Galaxy, they would need all the knowledge possibly in order to find them again.

Zhar only wondered if it would be possible for them to successfully slay one of the Sith once they were found… that was something that none of the Prophets had as of yet been able to foresee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diábolis cursed loudly as Veneficus disappeared with Talzin. The cursed Mage-born and their powers to teleport wherever their heart desired. He rushed for the exit of the caverns, hoping to find a speeder or some other form of tracking technology so that he could find where the pair had gone, but he encountered a major problem.

The hordes of undead that Talzin had created were waiting, and charged him the moment he emerged. She must have set them to attack anyone who exited, in case Veneficus fled, or else to betray Diábolis the moment all was finished.

Flying into a rage, Diábolis carved through the rotting corpses of former Imperials and Dark Adepts. It took far longer than he desired, but eventually he reached the shuttle he had arrived in, and called down a speeder and a tracker from inside its cargo hold.

The technology would scan the planet swiftly, but he wasn't sure if it would find his prey fast enough. However, a flare in the Force to his left, far in the distance assured him of the direction to begin his search. He threw a leg over the speeder and revved the engine, allowing the vehicle to speed off toward the overflowing of Force energy.

Clearly the fight between the two had intensified, even as Talzin made use of the Scepter of Ragnos and Veneficus his own restored powers. Diábolis was not sure what the man had done to rejuvenate himself, now how much of his substantial power it had granted back to him, but the Apprentice was not willing to take too many risks.

If Veneficus had tried to separate the pair of them, it meant that he truly feared that he might lose this fight. The quicker Diábolis arrived and attacked, the sooner Veneficus would be put back on the defensive.

Dodging through the trees as he flew at the maximum speed, Diábolis allowed the tracker to home in on the precise location of the two powerful Force users, weaving a complicated path through the dense undergrowth and homing in on them.

Mount a rise, Diábolis spotted the flashed of light through the last bend in the trees, and heard the telltale clash of sabers. He was forced to duck; however, when a powerful orange beam cut horizontally through the growth, severing trees and foliage like, sending them falling to the ground with a massive crash.

Talzin was using the power of the Scepter wildly, fending off Veneficus with everything she could muster, and it seemed to be at least keeping the Sith Lord back. Aiming the speeder directly at his former master, Diábolis pushed the device to its max speed, locking it in forward and stepping onto the seat.

Activating his twinblade at the last moment, Diábolis leapt from the vehicle as it plowed into the artificial clearing, bearing down on his former master.

Veneficus teleported in a hurry, reappearing on the far side of the vehicle as it crashed into one of the remaining stumps of the many trees and exploded. Diábolis rose from his landed crouch, and flourished his weapon at Veneficus, "We've not finished our duel, my old master," he snarled, eager to press the attack once more.

"If you are so willing to die, then so be it…" Veneficus snapped back, closing the distance between human and Devaronian with Force-aided speed, and their crimson sabers clashed heavily, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Diábolis fell into Juyo, throwing off the twin sabers and cutting back and forth twice with heavy reaching swiped. Veneficus stepped back for the first, and ducked the second, trying to perform a double upward lunge, but Diábolis spun away to the side, building momentum for a powerful overhead slam.

Veneficus blocked with a strong cross of his blades, locking all three of their weapons at once. But Diábolis had momentarily forgotten Talzin, who was waiting for the opportunity to strike. "Master, and Apprentice, mine at last!" she said, smirking madly as the Scepter pointed at the pair of them.

Both Sith pushed off each other as the orange beam of pure Force energy ripped through the space they once occupied. Diábolis didn't need to sense the wrongness of using the Force in such a manner to know that it would tear apart anything it struck.

Veneficus leapt at the witch, but she was prepared for a direct attack this time. Slamming the head of the Scepter into the ground, a powerful pulse of Force energy washed in all directions, throwing the Sith Master away and into a large patch of demolished undergrowth. He emerged with many cuts and blood flowing freely from his face and hands.

Diábolis quickly realized that the pair had little to no fixation on his presence as they lunged at each other again, crimson sabers finding purchase on the emerald fire of Talzin's weapon. He was a momentary distraction for Veneficus and a passing tool for Talzin.

Diábolis felt his anger for the pair rising, and drew the Sith Sword that he had brought with him. Acting on instinct more than any rational plan, he charged in, allowing only Talzin to see his approach.

Veneficus started to turn, but through his rage and the Force enhancing his speed, Diábolis moved like lightning, and drove the sith blade into his master's back, ripping through the armored material of his robes, breaking bones and rupturing through organs.

The point of the blade exploded out of the front of Veneficus and dug into Talzin as well, although not nearly as deeply as Diábolis hoped. The witch staggered back, injured but not impaled, while Veneficus fell to his knees, fatally wounded.

"And so it ends, my hated foe," Talzin simpered, the sword fading from her hand as she started chanting, and waving the green spell-like mist over Veneficus' features, "Be forgotten!"


	35. Epilogue: …And A Beginning for Every End

**Epilogue**

… **And A Beginning for Every End**

Ist watched the sky in horror.

First, the rest of their fleet had arrived, only for the stolen Imperial ship to literally materialize between the _Terrasque_ and the fleet, taking the brunt of a devastating attack, and being utterly destroyed. Minutes later, as the massive Imperial ship went silent, suddenly Ist's comm burst into activity.

Minor rebel cells all across the Galaxy were reporting in on all open channels. Imperial ships started simply self destructing across the Galaxy, as though by the will of some almighty being. Finally, the _Terrasque_ turned away, jumping to Hyperspace directly into the nearest star, exploding with a brilliant flare of light.

"What just happened?" one of the nearby Jedi said, even as the entire crowd of rebels, Jedi, and citizens of the planet watched in silence.

"I think…" Ist said slowly, "We just won the war."

Shuttles started landing, releasing more rebel troopers, and they surged toward securing the temple ground completely, subduing any resisting Imperial they could find.

Ist felt drawn to one of the shuttles, and found Jedi Lord Berethon there, his repulsorchair descending the ramp alongside the remaining Jedi Masters from the interim Council. "Jedi Knight Ist," Berethon said, smiling up at her from his permanent seat, "I believe we have much to thank you for, in keeping our forces together while the unbelievable happened."

She was about to reply, denying that she had much involvement in the proceedings, but the Jedi Lord held up a hand, "there will be time for that later," he said. "We need to fortify the Temple against the return of the Emperor. The hour of darkness hasn't passed just yet, and if the stirrings in the Force are telling me correctly, he still lives."

Ist nodded, understanding. The pallor of the Dark Side was filling the whole of the Galaxy like a wave of miasma. Something major was happening regarding the Emperor, the only being that held the power to be felt from such a massive distance.

"Come, let's get everyone who can inside the temple grounds, and begin lockdown procedures." Berethon urged, and they turned to enter their home for the first time officially since the end of the first Neo-Sith War.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veneficus felt the powerful enchantment start to take hold. It was one of his own design; a spell meant to seal away from the memory of the Galaxy all those who he felt unworthy of existing, now being used against him. Lovegood, now Talzin from what he read in her scrambled and deranged memories, would take everything from him in her own pursuit of revenge, and then turn on Diábolis once she had finished.

The fool had to have realized this, but he would be powerless to stop her if she focused all her attention on him. The spell doomed Veneficus, but he would not allow his legacy to be destroyed so easily.

Roaring with rage as the final enchantment settled in, he lashed out with a burst of lightning, forcing the witch backward, and rose unsteadily to his feet. The searing hole in his chest had grazed his blackened heart, and he would indeed die without the Elixir of Life, also stolen by his contemptuous apprentice.

How amusing that everything unwound so perfectly against him, he mused momentarily. Leveling all his skill and power in the Force against Talzin, he forced her back further and further, until he had space to draw the Elder Wand. Smirking, he deftly broke the powerful artifact, hurling the remnants at his foe even as the magic within the tool started to backfire.

Talzin's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen, and apparated away in a cloud of green smoke. Veneficus turned, charging his former apprentice, and grabbing the Devaronian as the wand exploded in a burst of intense power.

Twisting them through space, the two sith landed heavily in the ruins of the academy, far from the blast site, and hopefully well away from Talzin and her manipulation. Diábolis shoved him away, and Veneficus, suddenly so devoid of excess strength, fell to the ground.

"What trick is this?" the younger sith asked, edging closer as Veneficus mustered only enough strength to prop himself against a crumbled pile of rubble.

Veneficus couldn't help it. He laughed, blood leaking from his mouth as the mirth of the moment escaped him. "Oh to be so youthful and foolish once again," he mused, suddenly nostalgic. "She was planning on killing you right after dealing with me," he said.

"I could have handled her," Diábolis said, almost eagerly falling back into the role of stubborn apprentice.

But Veneficus shook his head, "I doubt that very much." He wheezed, realizing that one of his lungs had been pierced in the stab wound killing him, "She had stolen much of my magical knowledge, and would have been capable of ending you swiftly."

"So you spent the last of your energy to do what exactly?" Diábolis asked, calculating, "you are dying, anyone can see that, and that spell would do what exactly? Erase you from all recollection?"

"After a fashion," Veneficus replied honestly. There was no further point in deception between them, and both Sith knew it. Diábolis had won, even if not completely through his own merit. He was the Sith Master now, from the very moment that Veneficus died, which was coming soon.

Coughing to clear his throat, Veneficus was keenly aware that blood was splattered from his mouth, but he lacked energy to actually do anything about it. "You were my first choice of apprentice for a reason…" he wheezed, "but now the entire Order is in jeopardy, because of our actions…"

"Explain yourself, old man, I'm as strong as ever," Diábolis said sternly.

"For now…" Veneficus said, resting his eyes as he spoke. Was this what it felt like to be dying? "The Elixir of Life is rejuvenating at first, but you're getting a continual dose because the stone is now part of you. In time, it'll change to a toxin and you will rapidly deteriorate."

Continuing to speak was growing harder. Veneficus could feel the darkness closing in around him. He tried to keep talking, to give the important information that Diábolis would need in order to preserve the Order of the Sith Lords, but it came out as a mumble.

Blearily he heard something loud, and suddenly his entire body jolted with electric pain, reinvigorating him. Grasping that pain, he used the Dark Side to energize himself. "You need an apprentice, and soon. You must pass on what I've taught you." He said.

"But we still control the Galaxy, the Empire…" Diábolis started, but Veneficus shook his head.

"…will fall. It's already begun. The Jedi and the Republic will return." He said slowly, opening his eyes. He could tell that in his delirium he had been thrown into the most lucid vision of his long lifetime, and from Diábolis reaction Veneficus knew that his eyes showed it."

"The Republic will return, and in time when I am forgotten they will resume their golden age from before the war. Magi-technology will disappear, and the Mage-born will rapidly vanish from all memory – a side effect of Talzin's spell. The Sith will become a long lost fear, a shadow of their former glory, but those of our line will rise once more, in the distant future."

"Where shall I go to make sure we succeed in the future," Diábolis asked, and Veneficus looked, not seeing specifics but knowing the answer that was needed.

"The Dark Side will guide you to the worthy candidate. Trust it and your instincts. Infiltrate the underworld of the Galaxy that will reform after the Republic, and you will effectively disappear."

"All the holocrons, the texts, everything is in your palace on Coruscant…" Diábolis said, anger clear in his voice, "How can I train an apprentice using only what I know and what you taught me."

"Not… all of it…" Veneficus said, feeling the energy he siphoned from the burst of lightning already fading, "There is more in a special place, once you've done what I expect of you with regards to my final resting place, you will find everything you need."

"You really thought of everything, didn't you…?" Diábolis mused, even as Veneficus felt his eyes close once more, without his active choice to do so.

"Of course…" he breathed, "Only a fool with foresight fails to prepare for that which he hasn't foreseen."

"Rest now, my Master, and let me take on the work of the Sith," Darth Diábolis said, almost whispering. The hatred was still present between them, Veneficus knew this as he let the darkness consume him. But at the same time, they had retained their respect for each other, even in the end.

But was it the end for him? Veneficus felt a tiny spark of humor as he cast his last spell, and invoked with the Force his final escape plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoda gazed around what was once the High Council Chamber of the Jedi Order. Several months had passed with no recourse from the Emperor, and slowly the Empire fell apart under the weight of its own ambition. Systems suddenly free from the tyranny of the Sith rallied, formed their own unions for protection, and as one turned to look at Coruscant and the Rebellion that had succeeded in dismantling the core of the Imperial holdings.

Slowly the Jedi had been consolidating those systems, calling for a reassembly of the Republic, and bringing elected senators from each world back to the former Rotunda. In time there would be a new Chancellor, and slowly the government of the Galaxy would return to the order they once enjoyed.

In the Jedi Order, under Lord Berethon, the restoration of the Temple was underway. All Sith artifacts were stored deep under the vaults, in a formerly hidden place that their old enemy had uncovered. Once they had all been collected, the Jedi would seal it forever, and lock away all that Darkness under their beacon of Light.

"Master Yoda," said the Jedi Lord at the goblin's side, "It is time."

"Time? For what may I ask?" Yoda said, turning to look at the very old Jedi.

Still entombed in his repuslorchair, the Corellian Jedi was quite frail now; lack of action and physical demands making certain that the human grew old before his time.

"Time for the Jedi to have a full High Council once more," Lord Berethon clarified, "and a new Grandmaster to lead it."

Yoda's confusion must have shown, because the human chuckled. "I may have served decently enough as an interim leader of the Jedi, but I am not suited for this. I wish to return to my holdings on Corellia, and live out the last of my days protecting the world that I love. Until then, we need a new leader for the Jedi as a whole, one that can unite all the splintered fractions of Force users throughout the Galaxy, and has the legendary reputation to support their strength."

"Then go, we shall, and arrange what we must," Yoda said.

Despite the lingering taint of the Dark Side, the original seats of the High Council had been found, and replaced in their original spots around the circular chamber. They only had half of a full Council, but seated around the Circle was Jedi Lord Berethon, his repusorchair momentarily replacing an actual seat, Jedi Master Restelly Quist, the Chief Librarian from before the war, Besalisk Master Obo Fequell, the ancient Battlemaster returned from her retirement of the title. Chiss Master Tega'oven'remous sat next to Iktotchi Master Sisho Nefamm. Finally Sullustan Jedi Xic Freirty sat next to Lord Berethon, all looking around at the empty seats with grim determination.

"Master Yoda, summon the remaining Knights and Masters," Lord Berethon requested, and the goblin Jedi complied, sending out a general communication.

Slowly figures started to spear, so few that they all fit comfortably into the standing areas of the chamber, or else along the walls outside the chief circle, while those unable to attend in person had holograms of themselves in place.

"My friends, and fellow Jedi," Lord Berethon started, "We've overcome so much hardship in the past years, fought great battles and at last have recovered our home from the unrelenting fist of the Sith." There were mutters of appreciation that circulated for a time, before the group fell silent once more.

"It is time at last to reform this High Council, with Jedi Masters recognized for their bravery, talents, and wisdom. Jedi Knight Kell Guesto, step forward," Berethon said, even as the five other masters stood. The Clawdite stepped forward, his form seeming to ripple slightly as he kneeled in the center of the circle and the Masters gathered around him, hands placed upon his head.

"This council of Masters finds you worthy," Berethon stated solemnly, "and grant you the rank and title of Jedi Master, High Councilor of the Order, and ask that you join us to govern in harmony and peace."

"I accept this calling," Jedi Master Guesto replied, rising and joining the circle of master as Lord Berethon called one by one the new members of the High Council. Joining Guesto were Jedi Knights Nrin Dyz, Deres Umba, Bela Deshlatin, and Kattar Yedit. The final member came as a shock to Yoda however.

"Jedi Knight Ist Narrah, step forward," Lord Berethon called, and the Bothan that had been Yoda's Padawan so long ago stepped forward hesitantly, and received her call to the High Council. Yoda could not have been more proud of his student's achievements.

"The Council is formed," Lord Berethon said, even as the other eleven new and old Jedi Masters took their seats. An appropriately solemn smattering of applause sounded for a few moments, but Lord Berethon held up a hand for silence. "As many of you know. I did not take up the role of Grandmaster of the Order. I was the last member of the previous council, even if the reasoning for my appointment were due to the threat of the Sith. I am stepping down as leader of the Jedi Order, to live out the rest of my days in comfort and peace, taking the Green Jedi back to our homeworld and rebuilding our culture there."

From the back, Jedi Lord Teepo nodded, seeming to have similar feelings. Around the room, Green Jedi and Teepo Paladins were smiling. They had been valued allies, but they had their own concerns and objectives to see to now that the war had ended.

"To that end," Lord Berethon, continued, "I ask the new High Council to reinstate the role of Grandmaster, to the final candidate that we six had chosen."

There was a pregnant pause, where many of the young Padawans looked around to try and see who was chosen before they were named. "Master Yoda, step forward." Lord Berethon said, gesturing for the Goblin Jedi.

Yoda was taken aback. He had not even considered that he was the only Master not on the council, let alone even in the running for a Council seat.

Nevertheless, it was a calling that he could not lightly refuse. Stepping forward, Yoda felt the heavy hands of the Jedi Lord on his shoulders, "Master Yoda, the Council calls upon you to be their head, the official leader of the Jedi Order, and the personification of the Light Side of the Force. Can you strive to live up to this obligation, combat the Dark Side, and give aid to all those who need your wisdom."

"Do that, I will…" Yoda replied, feeling the effect of all eyes in the room on him.

"Then as the interim leader of the Jedi, I name you Grandmaster Yoda, and ask you to take your seat among the Council." Berethon stated, even as the last chair was added to the circle. Yoda stepped toward it, faintly realizing that it was the chair once used by Grandmaster Fae Coven.

Feeling the mantle fall heavily upon his shoulders, Yoda turned to the assembled Order, and sat in the cushioned seat, swearing an oath to himself that he would do everything in his power to uphold what the previous occupant of this seat had fought, and died, to achieve.

There was another smattering of polite applause, and Lord Berethon called for an end of the ceremony, and dismissed all non leaders of the Jedi Order.

"Now comes the difficult part of leadership," Master Quist said, the human looking rather uncomfortable herself in a High Council Seat, "actually leading."

Yoda had to quite agree with the Chief Librarian, but glancing across at his former Padawan, now a High Councilor and Jedi Master, he felt that they would manage, just as they had for so long before now.

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Zhar watched the sun setting over the horizon of Dromund Kaas. Much had changed on the former Sith world, and now home to the Prophets of the Dark Side. The jungle had risen up in recent months, and swallowed the ruins of the former city, up to the great palace, much of which had fallen into disrepair.

There were only about fifty prophets of the Dark Side on world, and they were happily secluded from the rest of the Galaxy. The silence that permeated from the death of the Sith Emperor seemed to have deafened the Galaxy, slowly washing clean the slate of all memory of the madman and his seemingly endless Empire.

Zhar remembered however. He lived in the chamber that was once the Emperor's, and while he sensed that some spell was removing the memory little by little, he went through several rituals a day to remind him of the evil that the Prophets sought to defy.

Should the evil of the Sith Lords rise again, the Prophets would be there, in the shadows, waiting to plant a blade into the back of those monsters. Sure, they would be doing the job of the Jedi for them, but more efficiently and with less high-minded sentiment.

"Supreme Prophet?" a voice said, even as his one-time apprentice and now subordinate, High Prophet Euka, entered the room. "they are ready for you."

"Thank you, High Prophet," Zhar said, turning back. The was a cloak waiting for him, infused with glittering powder that shimmer like stars as he walked. A small flare that identified them against the flat black that the Sith favored. The prophets had many pinpricks of light within them, as they opposed the total darkness of the Sith, but they were still Darksiders in their own right.

The main chamber of the temple had been repurposed into a massive council chamber, where all prophets could assemble from their private meditations for group rituals or other business. Currently, all were waiting for his arrival, even as a group of troopers and officers shifted on the main floor, far below the seats for all the Prophets.

Taking the central and largest seat for himself, Zhar looked down at those that had come before them. Former Imperials to be sure, judging from the shabby uniforms, and the armor that bore the former insignia of the Empire, now repurposed into the mark of the Prophets of the Dark Side, as it had been in the beginning.

"What is it that you desire of us?" Zhar asked, fully entering his role as Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side.

"My Lord…" the highest ranking officer said, his voice somewhat warbling as he spoke. "We wanted to request of you information…"

But Zhar held up a hand to stop the man's prattling. "The Emperor is dead," he said with finality. The number of times that Imperials had fled back to their world and requested this of the Prophets was disgusting. It was as though they truly believed that the man had been some kind of god, and not a mortal like the rest of them.

"Nor will we take up his mantle," added Jol, from one of the higher seats on Zhar's left.

"Neither will we work to avenge his death," Euka finished from Zhar's right.

"We are the Prophets of the Dark Side, and we have nothing more to do with the Sith Empire." Zhar said, staring down at the trembling man. "Go and disappear into the Galaxy if you must, or merge back into the soon-to-return Republic, we care not…"

"But my Lord," the man continued, as though he could plead for the organization to dare take over the diabolic mantle that the Sith wore.

"Enough," Zhar said sternly, adding the touch of the Force to his command, "be gone from this place, and never return, nor speak of us to anyone…"

The officer stepped back in fright, and gestured for his troopers to stand down and withdraw. However, the moment that they were out the door, Euka and Jol glanced at Zhar, and the Supreme Prophet nodded. "They must not leave this planet alive…" he said to the grouping of prophets at large.

"They cannot be trusted," Jol added in agreement.

"Otherwise our secrecy will be compromised," Euka finished.

"Yes, Supreme Prophet, we will take care of them," one of the lesser prophets said, and the mass of dark robes scattered, many returning to their meditations and others going to fulfill the command and slaughter the fools that had dared come to them.

Zhar could sense his two High Prophets, and the future that they had foreseen. So many unified rituals in casting their minds forward to guide the Prophets had effectively merged their minds into a massive network, allowing each of the three individuals to act nearly as one.

Zhar had mused that if they did the same, adding more and more prophets to their collective Foresight, they would be able to strain further into the murky depths of the future, and see when and where the Sith would arise again, and how they could stop them before they became a threat.

But until then, they needed to train more people to be able to withstand the psychic strain that so many rituals placed on an individual.

They had plenty of time to do so; however, and Zhar had patience to spare for their ultimate goal.

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Darth Diábolis, Dark Lord of the Sith, watched the shifting of the Galaxy with hatred in his heart.

As foreseen by his master, the Republic was already reforming, and everything that they had created in the Sith Empire had crumbled under its own weight. But it had not all be for naught. The Jedi and what other fools existed out in the Galaxy had forgotten all about the Sith, thinking them defeated and gone forever, slowly losing the memory of the threat that they posed against them.

Diábolis had done what was required of him, once his master perished, taking the suddenly mummified corpse to the expansive deserts of Korriban. Out in the wastes, far from the Valley of the Dark Lords, his master had prepared a final resting place for himself, surrounded by trophies of his glory and artifacts that he had prepared for Diábolis, as though he had foreseen his own downfall.

Sealing the tomb after looting what he would require, Diábolis had turned his attention to the next step of furthering the Sith: Seeking an apprentice. He had sensed that he was indeed going to die quicker than he expected.

Luckily, his master's final words had been even as he suspected. Following the Force and seeking the greatest inklings of darkness in the Galaxy, eventually Diábolis had found the perfect candidate. The young human male, scarcely at the end of his teen years had willingly joined Diábolis, abandoning his former life and name and taking up the title of Darth Gravid.

The young man was eager, but had some ideas that needed to be purged to become a truly powerful Sith. Diábolis quickly grew to appreciate the brutal methods that his master had used in training him, although he could not do the same in these difficult and secretive times for the Sith. Leaving his apprentice to wander a dangerous world was simply too risky for him, because as quickly as Diábolis could teach the young man, the Devaronian himself was steadily dying.

He knew that Gravid wouldn't have too much trouble slaying him when the time came, yet he would do everything in his power to make sure that the Order of the Sith Lords continued into the future, and poured every effort into hammering in the tenants of their philosophy into the young mind.

Meanwhile, Diábolis had taken to the underbelly of the Galaxy, infiltrating easily the black markets and smuggling rings, provoking the acceleration of corruption to return to the fledgling Republic, and preparing a small holding that the Sith could use for their future endeavors.

It was a slow start, but he was certain that it would give the future generations of Sith what they needed to further the cause. The tiniest quiver in the Devaronian's left hand brought him out of his thoughts.

When his old master had warned him that he would be dying of eventual toxins in his body, Diábolis had not expected it to take this long just to start affecting him, let alone actually do any damage to his system, but it seemed to have finally started.

Glancing over at the sleeping form of his apprentice, curled unhappily on a small, threadbare cot on the opposite side of the dormitory within their private shuttle, Diábolis withheld his own worries. Refining the young man's heart into that of a Sith was still the longest and most painstaking part yet to be fulfilled with regards to Gravid, and Diábolis did not know if he would have the time to see it though completely.

For the sake of the entire Order, whose future rested squarely on Diábolis shoulders, he had little choice but to see this through. There wouldn't be time to kill Gravid and find another at this rate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mother Talzin smirked at the gathering of her sisters that had joined her in her exile. After the death of her great enemy, and the fleeing of his apprentice, she had prepared for a lonely existence in the wilds of Dathomir, practicing her magic and becoming the sovereign ruler of the entire planet.

Such fate had not seemed to be however. In due time, others fleeing the fall of Veneficus' mighty Empire came to her, Force users seeking out power for themselves, and they found her instead.

It was an… interesting dilemma to be sure. Those that were female flocked to her authority with great ease, led by one Togruta named Ocraadi Nuhok. The ex-Imperial Dark adept was strong in the Force, and quite insane, but there were ways of fully adapting her to the service of Mother Talzin.

Using ancient rituals, those women who were willing were infused with the ancient spirits of a long dead race, powerful in their sorcery and willing to walk the earth once more, even in a partial vessel. The process was terrible for those hosts, rapidly altering those who survived and changing their physical forms to house two spirits rather than one.

Naturally, old mad Nuhok had survived, although she ceased to be a Togruta altogether. The new being took on the name of Daka, and quickly learned much of the dark magic that Talzin had gleaned from Veneficus' mind.

As for the males, Talzin had little desire to deal with them directly when one of their leaders tried to take control of the entire collective out from under her. Talzin destroyed the Zabrak, before exiling the rest of the males to the far side of Dathomir, where the jungle ended and a large wasteland dominated the landscape.

Now, with about twenty of the female Force users surviving the transformation, Talzin had her own sisterhood, and under the light of a dim, new moon, she addressed her coven. "Welcome, my sisters, to our celebration of our night of unification. We have striven for great power in the Galaxy, and those destructive ones have ravaged it over and over. Yet we remain."

The sisters of the night cheered, and Talzin continued, "Our magic will dominate all of Dathomir, and slowly, we will attract more followers, grow into a powerful sisterhood, and progress out into the Galaxy to claim that which was denied to us."

"Rejoice, Nightsisters! For we have started a clan that will last for millennia!" she shouted over the cheers of her new sisters, her children and followers that would uphold her power for years to come.

Talzin turned away as the celebration began. There was much yet to do, even with all she had accomplished. The Sith still existed, and they were her sworn enemy. Looking up to the nearly moonless sky, Talzin spotted something small and shimmering as it streak through the sky like a meteorite, impacting the ground far from their camp.

The other sisters were too focused on their revelry to care, and did not notice Talzin slip from the camp. The Nightsister leader traveled swiftly, following faint traces of magic that led her straight to the impact sight of the unknown object.

The crater was deceptively large for the small orb at its base, glinting in the starlight from above. The magic wafting from it was extremely familiar. The spirit within her surged with joy as she drew forth the glittering Seer's Stone from the ground. How it had managed to come full circle and return to her was unknown, but Talzin wasn't about to question the fortune of her position.

With the stone at her side, she would be able to see the future with some imperfection, but she had a better idea for the powerful artifact. The stone might be overly large, but the changes that came to her body allowed her to easily fit it into her mouth. Ingesting such a powerful artifact would grant her that same power to a greater effect.

Visions blossomed behind her eyes as the stone settled within her, and Talzin cackled. All possibilities were open to her now, and she would usurp the control of the Galaxy. The Sith, the Jedi, the Republic, nothing would stand in their way.

But she would have to plan carefully, and ensure that she was well protected. Spells and potions would sustain her life, and the knowledge of the Elixir of Life, stolen also from Veneficus, would ensure that she and those she chose would live until the time was right for them to venture out from their world and conquer the Galaxy.

In the silence of the jungle, her laughter rang out, piercing to the very stars themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Jedi Temple, Coruscant, 19 BBY_

After so many years, it had finally happened. Over a thousand years of preparation, subtlety, and planning. And now, the Jedi were nearly extinct.

Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith and future Emperor of the Galaxy couldn't control his enthusiasm as he walked the halls of the Jedi Temple. Bodies littered the floor, slaughtered by his newest and most powerful apprentice, Darth Vader. The young man he had already met here, in the room of a thousand fountains, and sent off on his next mission, to butcher the Separatist leaders on the volcanic world of Mustafar.

He had other work that he needed to attend to as well, but Darth Sidious wanted to enjoy every moment that he lingered in the home of his enemy, before calling together the Senate and using his extreme executive power to change the Republic at the very core.

The deaths rang through the Force with such a delightful touch of the Dark Side, and Sidious wandered gleefully through the corridors, eventually finding himself in the great archive of the Jedi Temple.

He did not expect to find much, but there was always the chance that the fools in the Jedi Order missed some Dark Side trinket, or perhaps the Holocron of some lesser Sith. However, as he started toward the Holocron Vault, a small side passage caught the Sith Lord's eye. What was odd about it was the layers of dust that coated the floor, something that ought to have been unacceptable in the Jedi Temple.

Without hesitation, Sidious took the unknown passage, hands out and ready in case some Jedi had hidden there and was still alive. He had already taken the pleasure of ending the lives of several Padawans and Younglings that Lord Vader had left dying in his wake.

However, there was no one there, and the corridor ended in a clearly disused lift. Checking quickly, Sidious discovered that the lift still had power, but had fallen into complete disuse for some unknown reason.

Widening his eyes, the Sith Lord realized what this lift must have connected to, and eagerly he punched the button to summon the lift and open the doors. As he expected the lift came up from a long way below, and he stepped inside, eager to see for himself the nexus of energy below the temple.

He had been the first to find the collection of Dark Side power below the Jedi's very home, and the Sith Lord had tapped into it eagerly, using it to cloud the vision of the Jedi into the future and shroud his own presence in the Force, even when confronted with the Grandmaster of the Order, Yoda, face to face.

The lift rumbled and shook somewhat as it descended, but Sidious paid it no mind, he was genuinely excited for what he might find here. Long had he wondered what caused such a powerful nexus of the Dark Side, and why the Jedi had chosen to build their precious temple on top of such a location.

When the lift ended its journey, and the doors opened again, Sidious was met with a very short passage, clearly patched and intentionally sealed shut by the Jedi. That would do at all. Lightsabers likely wouldn't be able to open this, as the Jedi wouldn't want any of their own to break though if they broke out of the mould of their dogmatic thinking.

But Sidious was the most powerful living Force user in the Galaxy, and thusly leveled a powerful blast of telekinesis at the sealed wall. The room trembled, the wall bending at an unnatural angle and finally tearing open, revealing the passage beyond.

The dust and rust along the floor beyond told of the great age that this passage possessed, and the lightning was dim, albeit still functional. Sidious hurried along, not trusting the floor to not malfunction and give out under his weight.

Eventually, he stepped off the metal catwalk onto a stone plateau in the center of a large cavern, and the power of the Dark Side encircled him like a comforting blanket. Treasures and artifacts glimmered in the dim light, all shimmering with the Dark Side from ages past.

Sidious couldn't express his greed at seeing all the Dark Side artifacts, and quickly scanned them for anything of great value. His eyes landed on a Holocron, pyramid shaped and gleaming with crimson and gold amid the black of its sides.

It was like others he had held and seen, but much more ornate, speaking of wealth and power of the creator, and Sidious took this alone into his hands, wafting his powerful aura over the device and bringing it to life, like a miniature heart in his hands.

The Gatekeeper appeared, shimmering silvery in the gloom and appearing quite unlike any of the Holocron gatekeepers he had interacted with before. "I am Darth Veneficus, Dark Lord of the Sith, and Eternal Emperor of the Neo-Sith Empire, who is this that has awakened me?"

Sidious smirked with glee, "I am Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith and soon-to-be Emperor of the Galaxy."

"So, we have come full circle since my death then?" the gatekeeper said, surprisingly self aware for one of the recorded creations, in Sidious' opinion. "I will teach you all you can learn from me, for I see that the time has come once more for the Sith to rise over the Jedi. But beware; those closest to you will become your greatest foes, Emperor..."

Sidious laughed. He figured out the truth quickly. "This is no mere Holocron," he said deftly, "You are a memory, a shade of the actual Sith Lord, bound and contained here, at the heart of your enemy's home, waiting for someone, anyone, to find and release you."

"I see that we will be working quite well with each other," Veneficus said, smirking as Darth Sidious started the Ritual of Force-walking, in order to bind the pair of them together.

 **The End.**

 _And thus the second large step that I had taken into the world of authorship is complete at long last. Many experimental ideas were pitched, some good, others that need obvious work, but in the end, I enjoyed this story. In due time, when I've healed from the damage that Disney has done to the franchise I may write from the fandom again, but for the time being I need to walk away from star wars altogether. As a request for those who've stuck with me on this tale for the duration, i'd like an honest opinion regarding the characters, primarily those who were of my own creation. did they seem vibrant, and real characters standing alongside those who were from either fanbase. despite being mainly side characters did they measure up? I know of a few that were clear favorites by many, but i'd like to know more. what could have been done to flesh them out further while staying positioned in the roles that they were given? of course I am welcoming to any other manner of constructive comments or criticism that you might have, and fondly wish you all well. ~F_


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